Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cornstarch Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Combine milk, beaten egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a double boiler.
Cook over simmering water until thick, stirring constantly.
Pour the mixture into a dish to cool.
Top and serve
Spread the sweetened and flavored beaten egg whites over the cooled custard.
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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar 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
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that the starch and yolks thicken.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help thicken the custard as they set with heat.
- Cornstarch
- Swells in hot liquid and thickens the custard as it cooks.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard.
- Egg whites
- Whipped whites form an airy, light topping over the custard.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard over simmering water while stirring constantly. Cornstarch only thickens fully once the mixture reaches a simmer, so it must cook long enough. Constant stirring keeps the starch and yolks from clumping or scorching on the bottom, and gentle heat prevents the yolks from curdling.
“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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