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Dessert

Steamed Custard

A light custard made by steaming a mixture of cream, water, egg yolks, egg white, and saccharine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Steamed Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the custard

  1. Beat the egg yolks and egg white together.

  2. Add the cream and the saccharine dissolved in the water.

  3. Butter a small mold or jar and strain the mixture into it.

Steam and serve

  1. Steam gently until firm.

  2. Turn out and serve with diabetic sweet sauce or a little plain cream.

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.

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. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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

Egg yolks
Their proteins set when heated, giving the custard its firm, sliceable structure.
Egg white
Adds protein that helps the custard set firm and hold its shape when steamed.
Cream
Adds fat and moisture, giving the custard a smooth, rich texture.
Saccharine
Provides sweetness without sugar.

The step that matters

Steam gently until firm. Egg proteins set at moderate heat. Vigorous steaming or boiling makes the custard porous, bubbly, or watery as the proteins contract and squeeze out liquid, so a gentle heat keeps it smooth and tender.

“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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