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Dessert

Caramel Custard

A custard dessert made with caramelized sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla, and thick cream.

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

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 ↓

Caramel 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.

Make the caramel

  1. Melt the sugar in an omelet pan until it is light brown.

  2. Add the water to the melted sugar.

  3. Stir the mixture into the warm milk.

Make the custard

  1. Beat the eggs slightly.

  2. Add the salt and vanilla to the eggs.

  3. Stir the egg mixture into part of the milk.

  4. Strain the mixture into the remainder of the milk.

  5. Pour the mixture into a buttered 2-quart mold.

  6. Set the mold in a pan of warm water.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until firm.

  2. Check for doneness by inserting a knife; if it comes out clean, it is done.

  3. Once cooled, whip the thick cream.

  4. Spread the whipped cream on top.

  5. Serve with caramel sauce.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Vanilla + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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 into a tender, sliceable structure as they cook.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and gives it a soft, creamy body.
Sugar
Melts into caramel that adds deep, slightly bitter sweetness and colour.
Thick cream
Adds richness and a light, airy topping when whipped.

The step that matters

Bake the custard gently in a water bath. Baking the mold in warm water moderates the heat around the custard. Too much heat makes egg proteins tighten too fast, causing a grainy or watery texture. Test for doneness with a knife rather than relying on time alone.

“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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