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 ↓
Jelly Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and milk, mixing well.
Gradually incorporate the flour and vanilla extract to form a dough.
Roll out the dough and cut into rounds like cookies.
Make the meringue
For the meringue, beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add 2 lbs of sugar.
Pipe meringue rings on top of the cookies.
Sift sugar over the meringue and let it harden in the cool oven.
Fill and serve
Fill the center of each meringue ring with jelly using a piping bag.
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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Milk + buttertop 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the cookies a tender, rich texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cookies and, in the meringue, helps the whites hold a stable, glossy structure.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and bind the dough together.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together when rolled and cut.
- Milk
- Adds moisture to the dough, softening the flour's structure.
- Vanilla extract
- Adds a warm aroma that complements the butter and sugar.
The step that matters
Adding the sugar to the egg whites. Sugar should be added gradually to beaten egg whites so it dissolves and the foam stays stable. Adding it all at once can deflate the foam and leave a weaker, grainy meringue.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, milk, butter, flour):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, milk, butter, flour. 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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