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Caramel Mould

A caramel custard set in a mould, made with sugar, water, milk, eggs, and isinglass.

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

Caramel Mould

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until the sugar turns light caramel brown.

  2. Remove from heat and gradually pour in the milk while stirring continuously.

  3. Beat the egg yolks and egg white together.

  4. Gradually add the beaten eggs to the caramel mixture, stirring constantly.

Set the mould

  1. Pour the mixture into a basin or mould placed in a stewpan half full of boiling water.

  2. Let it set for about 30 minutes until firm.

  3. Add melted isinglass to the mixture before pouring it into a mould.

  4. Chill in a refrigerator or surround with pounded ice.

Serve

  1. To serve, dip the mould in hot water, place a dish on top, and invert to release.

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. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and milk 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

Sugar
Caramelised to give the mould its colour, flavour and sweetness.
Milk
Provides the liquid base and creamy body of the custard.
Egg yolks
Enrich the custard and set it into a firm, tender texture when gently heated.
Egg white
Adds protein that helps the custard set and hold its shape.
Isinglass
A gelatin-like setting agent that firms the mould so it holds its shape when turned out.

The step that matters

Adding the beaten eggs gradually. Egg proteins set when heated, so pouring the eggs in slowly while stirring constantly lets them blend evenly into the hot caramel mixture. Adding them all at once can scramble the eggs and leave the custard lumpy instead of smooth.

“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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