Why it works: Lemon and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Very Good Old-fashioned Boiled Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the milk
Infuse the lemon rind in 1½ pints of new milk for 30 minutes.
Simmer the milk for a few minutes.
Add 4½ ounces of sugar to the milk.
Make the custard
Beat the yolks of 14 eggs.
Mix the beaten yolks with ½ pint of new milk.
Stir the boiling milk quickly into the egg mixture.
Remove the lemon peel from the custard.
Pour the custard into a deep jug.
Place the jug over boiling water.
Stir gently and continuously until the custard thickens.
Stir more quickly until it nearly boils.
Remove from heat immediately to prevent curdling.
Finish and serve
Pour the custard into a bowl.
Stir the custard until it is nearly cold.
Gradually add ⅓ cup of brandy, if desired.
Gradually add 2 ounces of blanched almonds, if desired.
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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Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,738 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Brandy + almondtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,969 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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 with gentle heat, and add richness.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and carries the flavour of the lemon and sugar.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the custard and softens the set slightly.
- Lemon rind
- Adds fresh citrus aroma as it infuses into the warm milk.
The step that matters
Stir the custard over boiling water and remove it from heat promptly. Egg yolks thicken as their proteins set with gentle heat. If the custard overheats or sits too long, the proteins tighten and curdle, so it must be stirred gently and taken off the heat once it thickens and nearly boils.
Swap the almond
The recipe marks almond as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, lemon, sugar, egg, brandy):
- Almondthe original
- Walnutfits about as well
- Chestnutfits less well
- Pistachiofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, lemon, sugar, egg, brandy. 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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