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 ↓
Baked Custard
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard
Heat the milk almost to boiling, then remove from heat.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and mix in the sugar until light.
Gradually add the hot milk to the egg mixture, stirring constantly.
Gently fold in the whipped egg whites.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into stoneware cups.
Place the cups in a baking pan filled with boiling water.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until the custard sets.
Serve nearly or completely cold from the cups.
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 + 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
- Egg proteins set on heating, giving the custard its structure and body.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base and moisture that the egg proteins set within.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps soften the set custard's texture.
The step that matters
Gradually add the hot milk to the egg mixture, stirring constantly.. Adding hot milk slowly and stirring keeps the eggs from scrambling. Gradual tempering raises the eggs' temperature evenly so they blend smoothly and set into a silky 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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