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Dessert

Fried Cream

A custard thickened with milk, sugar, eggs, and spices, chilled, cut, coated, fried, and served with sugar and maple syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Fried Cream

Oven, in the book's wordsA warm oven

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Cook the cinnamon stick in the milk.

  2. Mix sugar, flour, and corn starch together.

  3. Combine with the hot milk and cook until thick.

  4. Remove from heat and stir in the beaten egg yolks and salt.

  5. Return to heat for a few moments.

  6. Add vanilla and butter, and mix well.

  7. Pour into buttered platters about ¼ inch thick.

  8. Cut into squares about 1½ inches.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll each square in fine cracker crumbs.

  2. Roll each square in beaten sweetened egg.

  3. Roll each square again in cracker crumbs.

  4. Fry in deep oil until golden brown.

  5. Drain on brown paper.

Finish and serve

  1. Place in a warm oven for a few moments.

  2. Roll in pulverized sugar.

  3. Serve with maple syrup.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard so the squares hold their shape when cut and fried.
Corn starch
Thickens the milk mixture so it sets firm enough to cut into squares.
Flour
Adds body to the custard, helping it set firm and hold its cut shape.
Milk
Forms the custard base that sets into the squares.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and adds flavor to the coated squares.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor to the custard.

The step that matters

Frying the coated squares. Frying in hot oil until golden browns the crumb coating quickly while the custard inside heats through and stays set. If the oil is too cool, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy, and the squares may soften or leak custard.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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