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Dessert

Cold Custard

A chilled gelatin dessert made with milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Cold 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 ↓

Cold Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Dissolve the gelatine in water.

  2. Heat the milk until scalding.

  3. Beat together the sugar and egg yolks.

  4. Pour the scalding milk over the egg mixture and stir.

  5. Add the dissolved gelatine and vanilla.

  6. Beat in the egg whites and let cool.

Chill and serve

  1. Chill in ice for 1‑2 hours before serving.

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

Gelatine
Sets the custard as it cools, giving it a firm, sliceable body.
Egg yolks
Thicken and enrich the custard, adding richness and a smooth texture.
Egg whites
Beaten in to lighten the custard, adding a airy, fluffy texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing body and creaminess.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and helps balance the richness of the egg and milk.

The step that matters

Pour the scalding milk over the egg mixture and stir. Adding hot milk too quickly or without stirring can scramble the egg yolks. Pouring slowly while stirring gently warms the yolks so the custard thickens 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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