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Dessert

Creams and Custards

A simple custard made with eggs, milk, sugar, and optional gelatin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and gelatin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,778 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Creams and Custards

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Beat the eggs quickly and sharply, separating the whites and yolks.

  2. If using gelatin, soak it in cold water or milk for 1 hour.

  3. Dissolve the gelatin in a warm place.

Make the custard

  1. In a custard kettle, heat the milk until it begins to foam.

  2. Add the sugar to the boiling milk to cool it slightly.

  3. Mix the beaten yolks with the sugar in a bowl.

  4. Gradually add several spoons of the hot milk to the yolk mixture.

  5. Slowly stir the yolk mixture back into the boiling milk, stirring constantly until it thickens slightly.

  6. Remove from heat immediately to prevent curdling.

  7. Cool the custard in a cold dish.

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.

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. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Milk + gelatintop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,054 recipes

    Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).

Sugar and milk 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

Eggs
Yolks thicken the custard as they set with gentle heat, giving it body.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing moisture and creaminess.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps cool the hot milk before the yolks are added.
Gelatin
Adds firmness by setting the custard as it cools.

The step that matters

Remove from heat immediately to prevent curdling. Egg yolks begin to set around 160°F and scramble if overheated. Stirring constantly and removing the custard from heat as soon as it thickens keeps it smooth.

“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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