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Dessert

Filbert Tartlets

A sweet tartlet filled with chopped filberts, almonds, and a creamy egg yolk mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Filbert Tartlets

12 tartlets
Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Blanch and peel the filberts, then chop them finely.

  2. Mix the cornflour smoothly with the cream or milk, and heat until thickened.

  3. Cream the egg yolks and sugar together until thick and smooth.

Make the filling

  1. Add the prepared nuts and almonds, then stir in the cornflour mixture.

  2. Pour the mixture into 12 tartlet pans lined with pastry.

Top and bake

  1. Place two thin strips of pastry across each tartlet, brush with milk, and sprinkle with caster sugar.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 20 minutes.

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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Filbert + almondtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together80 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetylpyrazine (roast).

  3. Filbert + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  4. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  5. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Filberts
Provide the main nutty flavour and body of the filling.
Eggs
Egg yolks thicken the filling as it bakes, giving it a set, custard-like texture.
Cornflour
Thickens the cream or milk into a smooth base that helps the filling hold its shape.
Ground almonds
Add fine body and extra nutty aroma to the filling.
Castor sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps it turn smooth when creamed with the yolks.

The step that matters

Heat the cornflour mixture until thickened. Cornflour only thickens fully once it is heated with liquid, and a lumpy or underheated mixture will leave the filling thin or grainy after baking.

Swap the filbert

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, sugar, egg, cream):

  1. Pistachiofits better
  2. Hazelnutfits better
  3. Brazil nutfits better
  4. Filbertthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar, egg, cream. 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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