Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Cocoa-Nut Custard Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard
Stir the grated cocoa-nut into the milk, then pour the milk into a saucepan.
Bring the milk slowly to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Mix the corn-starch with a little cold milk.
Add the corn-starch mixture to the boiling milk and cook for 1 minute.
Remove the saucepan from heat.
Strain the mixture through a coarse cloth or fine colander.
Beat the yolks and mix with the sugar.
Stir the yolk-sugar mixture into the strained milk.
Add the cocoa-nut milk if sweet.
Fold in the whipped egg whites.
Bake and serve
Line two pie pans with a stiff cream paste.
Pour the custard mixture into the lined pans.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until the custard is set.
Remove the pies from the oven.
Let the pies cool before serving cold.
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.
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + cocoatop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together643 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Cocoa + corntop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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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).
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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, setting into a soft, creamy body when baked.
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken and enrich the custard, while whipped whites add lightness and structure.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps soften its set texture.
- Corn-starch
- Thickens the boiled milk so the custard holds its shape when baked and cooled.
- Cocoa-nut
- Adds coconut flavour and body to the milk mixture.
The step that matters
Bring the milk slowly to a boil, then cook the corn-starch mixture. Starch only thickens fully when heated to a boil, and stirring keeps it from scorching or forming lumps on the bottom of the pan.
Swap the cocoa
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, corn):
- Almondfits better
- Peanutfits better
- Beansfits better
- Cocoathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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