Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Pastry Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the milk in a saucepan and add the sugar until dissolved.
Beat the egg yolks in a bowl.
Mix the cornflour with a little cold milk to form a paste.
Pour the hot milk onto the beaten egg yolks, stirring constantly.
Add the cornflour mixture to the egg and milk mixture.
Return to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring until it thickens.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla once slightly cooled.
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Add richness and help the custard thicken and set as it cooks.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, spoonable custard as it heats.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the custard thickens and sets in.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the flavour of the custard.
The step that matters
Return to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring until it thickens. Cornflour needs to reach a simmer to swell and thicken fully, while the egg yolks can scramble if the heat is too high. Low heat and constant stirring give a smooth 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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