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Custard Timbales

Custard timbales are small custard desserts baked in molds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Custard Timbales

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the custard

  1. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together.

  2. Add the scalded milk and salt, mixing well.

  3. Pour the mixture into small, buttered timbale molds.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the molds in a pan of hot water.

  2. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until set.

  3. Let cool in the molds until firm.

  4. Serve chilled with caramel sauce.

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. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
Set the custard by coagulating when heated, giving it a firm, smooth structure.
Scalded milk
Provides the liquid base and moisture that gives the custard its soft, creamy texture.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and contributes to the custard's flavor and tender texture.

The step that matters

Bake in a water bath. Placing the molds in hot water moderates the heat around the custard, so it sets gently and evenly. Baking it too hot or without water can curdle the eggs, leaving the texture grainy and porous.

“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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