Why it works: Cinnamon and almond 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 ↓
White Custabd
Ingredients
Directions
Boil 2 pints of new milk with cinnamon and a few bitter almonds.
Blanch and beat the sweet almonds with rose water until smooth.
Add the almond paste to the milk mixture.
Thicken the custard with flour or arrow-root mixed with water or milk.
Sweeten and flavor to taste.
Remove from heat and let cool before adding the beaten egg yolks.
Stir until well combined and serve.
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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Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- New milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing body and creaminess.
- Sweet almonds
- Beaten into a paste to add nutty flavor and richness to the custard.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help it set into a smooth, thick texture when gently heated.
- Flour or arrow-root
- Thickens the liquid so the custard becomes smooth and holds its body.
The step that matters
Add the egg yolks after cooling. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if added to very hot liquid. Letting the mixture cool first allows the yolks to blend in smoothly and thicken gently.
“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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