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 ↓
Cream Pies
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, 1 cup sugar, and cornstarch together.
Heat the milk in a saucepan until it comes to a boil.
Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, stirring constantly.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until thickened.
Bake the crust
Bake the pie crust until golden and let it cool.
Once the custard is cold, pour it into the cooled pie crust.
Make the meringue and finish
In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Gradually add 5 tablespoons of sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Spread the meringue over the custard and bake until light brown.
Flavor the meringue with vanilla extract.
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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 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).
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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they cook and add richness to its texture.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk and egg mixture so the custard sets firm when cooled.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and gives it creamy body.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into foam to create the airy structure of the meringue.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps stabilize the whipped egg white meringue.
The step that matters
Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Adding hot milk to the yolks too quickly or without stirring can scramble the eggs. Constant stirring gently warms the yolks so they blend smoothly before the custard is thickened on the heat.
“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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