Why it works: Cream and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Steamed Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the egg yolks and egg white together.
Add the cream and dissolved saccharin in water.
Butter a small mold or jar and strain the mixture into it.
Steam and serve
Steam gently until firm.
Turn out and serve with diabetic sweet sauce or a little plain cream.
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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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they set, giving it a firm, smooth texture.
- Egg white
- Adds protein that helps the custard set firm when steamed.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving the custard a softer, smoother mouthfeel.
- Saccharin
- Provides sweetness without sugar.
The step that matters
Steam gently until firm. Eggs set into a smooth custard only at moderate heat. Steaming too hard or too long can cause the custard to become rough, watery, or full of holes.
“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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