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Dessert

Molasses Custard

A custard made with maple syrup, sugar, eggs, sweet milk, butter, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 ↓

Molasses 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a bowl, combine maple syrup, sugar, and eggs; mix well.

  3. Stir in sweet milk and melted butter.

  4. Add vanilla extract to taste.

  5. Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until set.

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. Maple syrup + vanillatop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together752 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Eggs
Set the custard as their proteins coagulate during baking, giving it structure.
Maple syrup
Adds sweetness and a deep molasses-like flavor, along with liquid moisture.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps give the custard a smooth, tender texture.
Sweet milk
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the custard soft rather than dry.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Bake until just set. Egg proteins set as they heat. Baking too long squeezes liquid out of them, leaving the custard grainy or watery. The custard continues to set as it cools, so it should still wobble slightly in the centre when removed.

“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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