Why it works: Milk and egg 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 ↓
Plain Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the milk almost to boiling in a bain-marie.
Beat the egg yolks until light and stir in the sugar.
Gradually add the scalding milk to the egg mixture.
Return the mixture to the heat and stir until thickened, being careful not to let it break.
Finish and serve
Stir in the whipped egg whites and flavor to taste.
Pour into cups and serve.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the eggs thicken into a custard.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they set when gently heated, giving it body.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into the custard to lighten its texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and softens the set slightly.
The step that matters
Returning the mixture to the heat. Egg proteins set gradually as the custard heats. If the heat is too high or the custard is left unstirred, the proteins tighten and curdle, so the custard breaks. Stir constantly over gentle heat until it coats a spoon.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.