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Custard Croquettes

Custard croquettes are fried custard cubes coated in breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and vanilla 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 ↓

Custard Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Boil the milk and cinnamon together.

  2. In a separate bowl, beat together the cold milk, sugar, corn starch, flour, and egg yolks.

  3. Add the beaten mixture to the boiling milk and cinnamon.

  4. Strain the mixture into a double boiler and cook for 15 minutes.

  5. Stir in the butter and vanilla.

  6. Pour the mixture into buttered pans, about 1 inch thick.

Coat and fry

  1. Once cold and firm, cut into cubes.

  2. Roll the cubes in egg and then in bread crumbs.

  3. Fry until golden brown.

Serve

  1. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. These are also good cold.

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. Cinnamon + vanillatop 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. Cinnamon + flourtop 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 and add richness as they set when cooked.
Corn starch
Thickens the custard so it sets firm enough to cut into cubes.
Flour
Adds additional thickening to the custard base for a sturdy set.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard that sets when chilled.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and adds to its tender texture.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden coating when the cubes are fried.

The step that matters

Cooling the custard until cold and firm before cutting. The custard must chill fully so the starch and egg yolks set; cutting it early causes the cubes to collapse or smear when coated and fried.

“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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