Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Jelly Custard
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Mix in the acid jelly until well combined.
Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture, mixing thoroughly.
Bake and top
Pour the mixture into crusts and bake until set.
Prepare the meringue with the reserved egg whites and spread it on top.
Return to the oven until the meringue is light brown.
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.
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and add richness and a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and, creamed with butter, helps give a light, fluffy base.
- Acid jelly
- Provides the tart, fruity flavour that balances the sweetness of the custard.
- Eggs
- Set when baked, giving the custard its structure and body.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into the meringue to give a light topping that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Return to the oven until the meringue is light brown. Egg white meringue browns quickly from the sugar and heat, so it can scorch if left too long. Watch for a light golden colour and remove promptly.
“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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