Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon 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 ↓
Custard Pudding
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.
Make the custard
Boil the milk and cream together.
Thicken with a smooth mixture of flour and water until it can support an egg.
Break in the egg yolks and sweeten with powdered sugar.
Add grated nutmeg, lemon peel, and brandy.
If desired, mix in the mashed potatoes for added texture.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pie dish lined with puff pastry.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for half an hour.
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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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 of the custard and sets with the egg yolks as it heats.
- Heavy cream
- Adds richness and a smoother, softer texture to the custard.
- Flour and water mixture
- Thickens the liquid so it holds together rather than running thin.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help the custard set when heated.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the brandy and lemon.
- Mashed potatoes
- Add body and a softer, denser texture to the filling.
The step that matters
Thicken with the flour and water mixture. The mixture must be smooth and added to hot liquid gradually, otherwise lumps form. Test that it coats a spoon or can support an egg, since under-thickened custard stays runny and over-thickened custard turns stiff.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, cream, flour, egg, sugar, nutmeg, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, cream, flour, egg, sugar, nutmeg, brandy. 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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