Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Custard Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Beat the egg in a bowl.
Add the milk and sugar, and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a custard pan or jug.
Place the pan in boiling water and stir until it coats the back of a spoon.
Add the flavoring and stir to combine.
Serve
Pour through a sieve into a serving dish 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.
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.
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Egg + milktop 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).
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
- Egg
- Thickens the sauce as its proteins set when gently heated.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the egg thickens into a smooth sauce.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the milk and egg flavor.
The step that matters
Stirring over boiling water until it coats the spoon. Egg proteins set gradually as the sauce heats. Stirring keeps the heat even and prevents lumps or curdling. Stop when it coats the back of a spoon, since it thickens further as it cools.
“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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