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Custard

A caramelized custard made by pouring a caramel base into a mold, then baking a milk and egg mixture over it.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Custard

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 ↓

Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. In a saucepan, combine loaf sugar and water.

  2. Boil without stirring until it turns a golden toffee color.

  3. Pour the caramel into a dry souffle tin or cake mold, turning gently to coat the sides.

  4. Let it set.

Make the custard

  1. Beat the egg yolks, egg whites, and caster sugar together.

  2. Boil the milk and pour it over the egg mixture.

  3. Strain into the prepared mold.

Steam and serve

  1. Cover with buttered paper and steam gently until firm, ensuring the water barely simmers.

  2. Let it cool, then turn it out onto a dish.

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.

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.

  1. Milk + eggtop 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

Eggs
Egg yolks and whites set the custard into a firm, sliceable texture as they cook.
Milk
Provides the liquid base and moisture that gives the custard its smooth, soft body.
Loaf sugar
Melts and caramelises into the golden toffee that coats the mold and sweetens the dish.
Caster sugar
Sweetens the custard and helps the egg mixture blend smoothly.

The step that matters

Steam gently so the water barely simmers. Egg proteins set at moderate heat, so vigorous boiling can make the custard porous, bubbly or rubbery. A gentle steam keeps it smooth and firm.

“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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