Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Rich Custards, Either for Cups or Crust
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard base
Boil the cream with nutmeg and cinnamon, stirring constantly.
Pour the boiled cream into a pan.
Stir the cream in the pan until it cools enough to prevent scum.
Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs together.
Stir the beaten eggs into the cooled cream.
Add salt, sugar, and rose or orange flower water.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into cups or crusts.
Bake or poach and set
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until they boil up.
For a quicker method, place cups in a kettle of gently boiling water, ensuring they are partially submerged, until set.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Nutmeg + rosetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,067 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Cream
- Provides fat and richness, giving the custard a smooth, creamy texture.
- Egg yolks
- Coagulate on heating to set the custard and add richness and colour.
- Egg whites
- Add protein that helps the custard set firm and hold its shape.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the savoury notes of the eggs and spices.
The step that matters
Cooling the cream before adding the eggs. If the cream is too hot when the beaten eggs go in, the eggs can scramble instead of thickening smoothly. Cooling it first lets the proteins set gently 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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