Name: Michigan Custard
Ingredients: 5 eggs; 1 cup maple sugar; 1 tablespoon flour; a pinch of salt; ⅛ nutmeg; 2 quarts lukewarm milk

Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Michigan Custard

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Beat the eggs thoroughly.
Stir in the maple sugar, flour, salt, and nutmeg.
Mix this into the lukewarm milk.

Bake

Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Place the baking dish in a pan of hot water.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until the custard is firm in the center.

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.

Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Nutmeg + milktop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,685 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Eggs: Set the custard into a firm, sliceable texture as they cook.
Maple sugar: Adds sweetness and a rich maple flavor.
Flour: Helps stabilize the custard so it holds its body.
Milk: Forms the liquid base that gives the custard its creamy moisture.

The step that matters

Bake at 350°F (175°C) until the custard is firm in the center. Egg proteins set as the custard heats, so pulling it too early leaves it runny, while overbaking can make it grainy and weep liquid. Baking it in a water bath moderates the heat so the custard sets gently.