Why it works: Milk and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,479 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
Cold Custard or Junket
Ingredients
Directions
Make the junket
Heat the milk to blood temperature, but do not boil.
In a glass bowl, combine the rennet and sugar.
Pour the warm milk into the bowl, stirring gently to mix.
Grate nutmeg over the top and set in a cool place until firm.
Serve
Serve very cold.
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.
-
Milk + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
-
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Nutmeg + sherrytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,246 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + nutmegtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Provides the protein-rich liquid that rennet turns into a soft, set curd.
- Rennet
- An enzyme that curdles the milk proteins, causing the mixture to set.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the mild, delicate curd.
The step that matters
Warm the milk to blood temperature, not boiling. Rennet is an enzyme that works best at warm temperatures, and boiling heat can destroy its activity so the milk fails to set. Gentle stirring keeps the forming curd intact.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, sherry):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Gingerfits about as well
- Clovefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, sherry. 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.
More junket recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.