Why it works: Milk and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,053 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Custard Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard
Mix the cornflour smoothly with a little milk.
Simmer the remaining milk with the lemon rind for about 20 minutes, then remove the rind.
Add the milk to the cornflour, stirring constantly.
Return to the heat, stir, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the sugar and salt, then allow the mixture to cool slightly.
Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture.
Bake
Line two deep dishes or twelve deep patty pans with pastry.
Pour in the custard and bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until the pastry is cooked and the custard is set.
If the oven does not have good bottom heat, partially bake the pastry before adding the custard.
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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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Milk
- Forms the body of the custard and provides most of its liquid and creamy texture.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the custard its smooth, sliceable body.
- Eggs
- Set when baked, giving the custard its firm, tender structure.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the flavour of the milk and eggs.
The step that matters
Cook the cornflour mixture fully before adding the eggs. Cornflour only thickens fully when the mixture simmers and starch granules swell. Stirring constantly and cooking for the stated time prevents lumps and a thin custard. Cooling slightly before adding the beaten eggs stops them from scrambling.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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