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Dessert

Caramel Custard

A custard made with milk, sugar, eggs, and caramelized brown sugar, served chilled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Caramel Custard

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 ↓

Caramel Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Combine the milk, white sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl without separating them.

  3. Dissolve the cornstarch in a little cold milk.

  4. Heat the brown sugar in a separate pan until it is scorched but not burned.

  5. Pour the hot milk mixture over the eggs, stirring constantly.

  6. Return the mixture to the saucepan.

  7. Stir in the cornstarch until thickened.

  8. Add the scorched sugar. Stir well.

  9. Remove from heat.

  10. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Serve

  1. Pour the custard into serving glasses.

  2. Refrigerate until cold.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Set the custard as they cook and thicken it into a smooth, sliceable texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that gives the custard its body and creamy mouthfeel.
Cornstarch
Thickens the custard so it holds a firm, spoonable texture when chilled.
Brown sugar
Scorched in a pan to add a deep, caramel flavor and color to the custard.
White sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the flavor of the milk and eggs.

The step that matters

Pour the hot milk mixture over the eggs, stirring constantly. Adding hot liquid to eggs too quickly can scramble them. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly so the eggs warm gradually and the custard stays smooth.

“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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