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50g. Almond Custards

A custard made from almonds, cream, cinnamon, eggs, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

50g. Almond Custards

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Boil the cream with cinnamon and let it cool.

  2. Blanch and beat the almonds until smooth.

  3. In a bowl, mix the cooled cream, beaten almonds, egg yolks, egg whites, and sugar.

  4. Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring until it thickens.

  5. Remove from heat and let it cool, stirring occasionally.

Chill and serve

  1. Once cool, pour into cups and refrigerate.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,514 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  5. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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

Almonds
Provide the main nutty flavour and body once blanched and beaten smooth.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, giving the custard a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they set during gentle cooking, and add richness.
Egg whites
Add protein that helps the custard set and firm up as it cooks.
Ground cinnamon
Adds warm aroma and flavour to the cream.

The step that matters

Cook over low heat, stirring until it thickens. Egg proteins set at moderate temperatures, so high heat or lack of stirring can scramble the eggs and leave lumps. Gentle heat with constant stirring gives a smooth, thick custard.

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, cream, egg, sugar):

  1. Nutmegfits about as well
  2. Cinnamonthe original
  3. Capersfits less well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, cream, egg, sugar. 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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