Why it works: Milk and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the eggs in a large bowl.
Add the sugar and mix well.
Make the custard
Grate the lemons and squeeze the juice, then add to the mixture.
Stir in the milk and cornstarch until smooth.
Bake
Pour the mixture into the pie crust.
If desired, beat the egg whites separately and fold them in before baking.
Bake until set and lightly golden.
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 + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Proteins set on heating, giving the custard its firm, sliceable structure.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharp lemon flavor.
- Lemons
- Grated zest adds aromatic lemon oils, deepening the citrus flavor.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and cuts the sweetness.
- Milk
- Supplies liquid and richness, giving the custard a soft, creamy body.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid as it heats, helping the custard hold together smoothly.
The step that matters
Bake until set and lightly golden. Egg proteins set as they heat, so the custard firms up. Underbaking leaves it runny, while overbaking makes the eggs tighten and weep or curdle.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, rice):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, rice. 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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