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 Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Boil the milk.
Beat the eggs well.
Pour the almost boiling milk onto the eggs, stirring quickly.
Add sugar and flavoring if desired.
Optionally, line the dish with pastry before pouring in the custard.
Pour the mixture into a greased dish.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about an hour.
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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Milk + eggtop 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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Sugar + eggtop 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
- Eggs
- Coagulate on heating to set the custard into a soft, sliceable body.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base and moisture that the eggs set within.
- Castor sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the set texture of the custard.
The step that matters
Pour the almost boiling milk onto the eggs, stirring quickly. Adding hot milk too fast or without stirring can scramble the eggs in spots. Stirring quickly spreads the heat so the egg proteins thicken evenly into a smooth custard.
“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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