Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Vols-au-vent, with Strawberries, Etc
Ingredients
Directions
Glaze
Remove the vols-au-vent from the oven when nearly done.
Brush the tops with egg white and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Return to the oven to set the glaze.
Fill and serve
At serving time, fill the vols-au-vent with fresh strawberries, raspberries, or any preserved fruit.
Top with a few spoonfuls of whipped 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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Vols-au-vent shells
- Flaky pastry case that holds the filling and bakes up crisp.
- Egg white
- Brushed on top, it bakes into a thin, glossy, set glaze.
- Coarse sugar
- Adds sweetness and crunch, browning slightly on the baked top.
- Fresh strawberries
- Provide sweetness, juiciness and fresh fruit flavour to the filling.
- Fresh raspberries
- Add tartness that balances the sweetness of the strawberries.
- Whipped cream
- Adds richness and a soft, creamy texture on top of the fruit.
The step that matters
Fill at serving time. Fruit juice and cream release moisture that soaks into the pastry and softens it. Filling just before serving keeps the shells crisp.
“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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