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 ↓
Tapioca Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Dissolve the tapioca in water until very soft.
Beat the egg yolks and sweeten to taste.
Boil the milk, then let it cool slightly.
Make the cream
Stir in the tapioca and flavor the mixture.
Beat the egg whites until very light and fold them into the mixture.
Let it boil for 10 minutes, then pour into molds.
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.
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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
- Tapioca
- Thickens the mixture as it softens and cooks, giving the cream body.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help set the cream as they cook.
- Egg whites
- Beaten until light, they add airiness and lift to the cream.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base and adds creaminess and body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cream to taste.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites must be beaten until very light and folded in gently so the air bubbles stay trapped, keeping the cream light rather than dense and deflated.
“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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