Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Custard Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the sweet cream in a double saucepan until it boils.
Beat the egg yolks with 1 to 2 tablespoons of cold cream and the sugar in a bowl.
Pour the hot cream into the egg mixture, stirring continuously to prevent curdling.
Return the mixture to the double saucepan over boiling water.
Stir continuously until it thickens and is about to boil.
Serve
Serve in a china basin, topped with grated nutmeg or powdered cinnamon.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Sugar + nutmegtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- Sweet cream
- Provides the liquid base and richness that gives the sauce its body and smooth mouthfeel.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they set with gentle heat and add richness and colour.
- Fine sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps keep the yolks from setting too quickly.
The step that matters
Stir continuously while thickening. Egg yolks set when heated, so if the mixture gets too hot or is not stirred, it can curdle or scramble. Constant stirring over gentle heat in a double saucepan spreads the heat evenly and lets the sauce thicken smoothly.
“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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