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 ↓
Open Jam Tarts
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Line a shallow tin dish with puff pastry.
Fill the dish with jam.
Top and bake
Roll out some puff pastry and lightly wet it with the beaten egg yolk mixed with milk and powdered sugar.
Cut the pastry into narrow strips and lay them across the tart.
Add another strip around the edge, trim off the excess, and bake until the pastry loosens from the dish.
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
- Puff pastry
- Forms the crisp, flaky base and lattice top that hold the jam in place.
- Jam
- Provides the sweet, fruity filling that sets as the tart bakes.
- Egg yolk
- Brushed on the pastry, it promotes browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Baking until the pastry loosens from the dish. Puff pastry needs enough oven heat to puff and set fully before it releases from the tin. Underbaked pastry stays soggy and sticks, while the jam filling can run if the crust is not firm.
“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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