Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Custard Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the eggs separately, then stir them together lightly.
Heat the milk in a pan of water until nearly boiling.
Stir in the sugar until dissolved, then pour a little at a time over the eggs.
Flavor with nutmeg and essence of lemon or vanilla.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a rich pastry shell and bake without a cover.
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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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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 sliceable structure as they cook.
- Sweet milk or cream
- Provides the liquid base and richness that gives the custard its smooth texture.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps soften the set custard's texture.
The step that matters
Pour the sugared milk over the eggs a little at a time. Adding hot liquid to eggs too quickly can scramble them. Pouring slowly while stirring gradually warms the eggs so the custard stays smooth.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, lemon):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Dillfits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, lemon. 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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