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Almond Custards

A sweet custard made with almonds, rose water, milk, cream, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Almond Custards

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Almond Custards

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Blanch and finely pound the sweet and bitter almonds with the rose water.

  2. Boil the milk and sweeten it with the sugar.

  3. Rub the almonds through a fine sieve with the cream.

Make the custard

  1. Strain the milk into the bowl with the egg yolks and beaten egg whites.

  2. Stir the mixture over low heat until it thickens.

  3. Remove from heat and stir until nearly cold to prevent curdling.

Bake

  1. Pour the mixture into cups or a dish lined with puff pastry and bake.

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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  4. Almond + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweet almonds
Give the custard its nutty almond flavour and body once pounded and sieved.
Egg yolks
Thicken and set the custard as it cooks gently over low heat.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the eggs thicken.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and balances the almond flavour.
Rose water
Adds a floral aroma to the custard.

The step that matters

Stir over low heat until it thickens. Egg proteins set gently at moderate temperatures. If the heat is too high or the mixture is left to cool without stirring, the eggs can scramble or curdle, leaving a grainy custard instead of a smooth one.

“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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