Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Puits d'AMOUB, or Puff-paste Kings
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 the rings
Make puff-paste according to recipe No. 1205.
Roll it out to about ½ inch thick and cut out large circles with a fluted cutter.
Rework the paste and roll it out again to the same thickness, cutting out smaller circles.
Stamp out the center of the smaller circles.
Brush the large circles with egg white and place a small circle on top of each.
Bake and serve
Brush the tops with egg white and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
Sift sugar over the baked pieces and return to the oven to color.
Fill the rings with brightly colored preserves and serve on a napkin.
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 + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Puff-paste
- Its laminated layers of fat and dough puff into flaky, airy rings when baked.
- Egg white
- Brushed on as a glaze, it helps the pastry brown and gives a glossy finish.
- Sifted loaf sugar
- Sprinkled on the baked pieces, it caramelizes in the oven for a sweet, browned surface.
The step that matters
Baking the stacked rings. Puff pastry rises only when its fat stays solid until the steam expands the layers. Rolling to the stated thickness, keeping the paste cool, and baking in a hot oven help the rings rise evenly instead of spreading or becoming dense.
“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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