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Dessert

Tapioca Cream

A custard-like dessert made with tapioca, milk, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and topped with beaten egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Tapioca Cream

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 ↓

Tapioca Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the tapioca in cold water overnight.

Make the custard

  1. Combine soaked tapioca, milk, butter, and salt in a pot.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Beat the egg yolks with sugar in a bowl.

  4. Add the egg yolk mixture to the pot.

  5. Boil until thick like custard.

  6. Stir in vanilla.

  7. Let the custard cool.

Serve

  1. Top with beaten egg whites before serving.

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

Tapioca
Thickens the milk as it cooks, giving the cream its body and slightly chewy texture.
Egg yolks
Enrich the custard and help it set into a thick, smooth cream when heated.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the tapioca swells in and thickens into cream.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and balances the richness of the egg yolks and milk.
Egg whites
Add a light, airy topping that contrasts with the smooth custard beneath.

The step that matters

Boil until thick like custard. Tapioca starch must reach a full boil to swell and thicken properly. Egg yolks added to hot liquid can curdle if the heat is too high or they are not stirred in well, so keep stirring while cooking.

“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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