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 ↓
Custards, Creams, Btc
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat eggs and sugar together in a bowl.
Dissolve cornstarch in a little cold milk.
Heat the milk in a saucepan until scalding, but do not boil.
Make the custard
Remove the milk from heat and gradually mix in the egg mixture, stirring constantly.
Return the mixture to the heat and cook until thickened, about 15 minutes, stirring constantly.
For a lighter custard, beat the egg whites separately and fold them in at the end.
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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Egg + milktop 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 + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Eggs
- Egg proteins coagulate on heating, giving the custard its set and body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base and provides moisture that the eggs set into a creamy texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the set of the eggs, keeping the custard tender.
- Cornstarch
- Swells when heated with liquid, thickening the custard so it holds its shape.
The step that matters
Return the mixture to the heat and cook until thickened. Egg proteins can curdle if overheated or cooked too fast, so constant stirring at moderate heat keeps the custard smooth while the cornstarch thickens it.
“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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