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Dessert

Cream Filling

A sweet custard-like filling made from milk, sugar, cornstarch, egg, butter, and vanilla.

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

Cream Filling

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Heat the milk in a saucepan.

  2. In a bowl, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.

  3. Add the hot milk to the mixture.

  4. Cook over hot water, stirring until thick.

  5. Continue cooking until there is no taste of raw starch.

Finish and cool

  1. Beat the egg, then add the milk mixture to it.

  2. Return to the double boiler and cook until the egg thickens.

  3. Remove from heat.

  4. Stir in the butter and vanilla.

  5. Cool before using in cream puffs.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

Milk
Forms the liquid base that the starch thickens into a creamy custard.
Cornstarch
Thickens the custard as its starch swells in hot liquid.
Egg
Adds body and richness as its proteins set during gentle cooking.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and softens the flavor of the custard.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
Vanilla extract
Adds aroma that rounds out the custard's flavor.

The step that matters

Thickening the egg mixture. Egg proteins set with heat and can curdle if overheated. Cooking gently over the double boiler while stirring keeps the custard smooth and thick.

“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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