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 Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the choux paste
In a saucepan, bring ½ pint of water and 2 ounces of butter to a boil.
Stir in 4 ounces of flour and continue stirring until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Remove from heat and beat in 4 eggs one at a time.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a buttered baking sheet, leaving space between each.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C).
Make the cream
For the cream, heat ½ pint of milk over boiling water, reserving 3 tablespoons to mix with the corn starch.
Once the milk is hot, stir in the corn starch and cook until thicker than custard.
Beat together the 3 egg yolks, 1½ ounces of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla, then add to the thickened milk.
Stir until thick enough to hold its shape when cold.
Assemble
When both the cakes and cream are cold, make a small opening in the side of each cake and fill with 2-3 tablespoons of cream.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vanilla + corntop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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
- Flour
- Forms the starch structure of the paste that sets around steam as the cakes bake.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and their moisture turns to steam that puffs the cakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness to the paste and softens the crumb.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk into a stable cream that holds its shape when cold.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream and add richness and a smooth texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the cream, which the starch and yolks thicken.
The step that matters
Cooking the cream until thick. Corn starch thickens only when the milk is hot enough, and the starch must be fully cooked to lose its raw taste and hold a set. Stopping early leaves a thin, runny filling; once the yolks are added, overheating can scramble them.
“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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