Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Apple Custard
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the apples
Pare, core, and quarter the apples.
Stew the apples with the grated lemon peel in a small amount of water until tender.
Mash the stewed apples until smooth; you should have 1½ pints of apple puree.
Mix the sugar into the apple puree and let it cool.
Make the custard
Beat the eggs until light, then gradually stir them into the milk, alternating with the apple puree.
Pour the mixture into cups or a deep dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 20 minutes.
Serve
Serve cold, garnished with grated nutmeg.
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.
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Apple + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,104 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,790 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Beaten eggs set the custard as it bakes, giving it a soft, sliceable body.
- Apples
- Stewed and mashed apples supply the bulk, moisture and fruity flavour of the custard.
- Rich milk
- Milk makes up the liquid base and adds richness and tenderness to the custard.
- Sugar
- Sugar sweetens the apple puree and balances its natural tartness.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs to the milk and apple puree. Beaten eggs should be stirred in gradually, alternating with the puree, so they blend evenly. Adding them all at once can cause uneven texture or lumps in the custard as it bakes.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sugar, egg, milk, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, sugar, egg, milk, nutmeg. 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.
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