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Dessert

Fried Cream

A custard-like dessert made from milk, sugar, eggs, and cinnamon, then fried and coated in crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Fried Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Boil the cinnamon in the milk.

  2. In a small bowl, stir the cornstarch and flour smooth with a little cold milk or water, then add to the boiling milk.

  3. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light, then add to the mixture.

  4. Remove from heat, take out the cinnamon, and stir in the butter and vanilla.

  5. Pour the mixture into a buttered dish, about ½ inch thick, and let it cool until stiff.

Coat and fry

  1. Cut into pieces about 3 inches long and 2 inches wide.

  2. Dip each piece in sifted cracker crumbs, then in the beaten egg, and again in crumbs.

  3. Fry in hot oil until golden brown, then dry in the oven for 4-5 minutes and serve immediately.

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.

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. Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

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

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

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

  5. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, 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

Milk
Forms the liquid base that the starch and yolks thicken into a custard.
Egg yolks
Enrich and thicken the custard, adding richness and a smooth set.
Cornstarch
Thickens the hot milk so the custard sets firm enough to cut and fry.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and softens its flavor.
Flour
Adds body and helps stabilize the custard alongside the cornstarch.
Beaten egg
Binds the cracker crumb coating so it adheres during frying and browns.

The step that matters

Let the custard cool until stiff before cutting. The custard must set fully so the pieces hold their shape through breading and frying. Cutting or handling it while soft causes it to collapse or smear, and the coating will not stay on.

“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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