Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Soft Custard Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Boil the milk or scald it in a double boiler.
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light.
Add the egg mixture to the milk and stir until it thickens slightly.
Remove from heat and let it cool.
Serve
When ready to serve, mix in the flavoring.
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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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 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).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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 milk as they set gently with heat, giving the sauce its body and smooth texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the egg yolks thicken into a pourable custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps the yolks stay smooth when beaten.
The step that matters
Add the egg mixture to the milk and stir until it thickens slightly. Egg yolks set when heated, so the mixture can curdle if it gets too hot or is not stirred. Stirring steadily while it thickens keeps the sauce smooth.
“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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