Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
Make the puffs
Place boiling water in a saucepan.
Add butter and, when the mixture boils, add flour and stir until a smooth paste forms.
When the mixture cools, break the eggs into it one at a time, beating each thoroughly.
Add the baking powder and drop spoonfuls onto baking tins some distance apart.
Bake slowly about forty‑five minutes, or until the cakes feel very light.
Make the cream and fill
When cold, remove the soft inside portion and fill with cream.
To make the cream, combine one quart milk, three eggs, sugar to taste, and cornstarch.
Boil until the consistency of a thin custard.
When cold, add lemon or vanilla flavoring.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Flour
- Forms the starch paste that gives the choux dough its structure.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness and help the puffs rise and set as they bake.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the choux dough.
- Baking powder
- Adds lift so the puffs rise and open up in the oven.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the cream, giving it body when thickened.
- Cornstarch (in the method)
- Thickens the cream into a custard-like consistency when boiled.
The step that matters
Bake slowly until very light. Baking too fast or opening the oven early can make the puffs collapse before their walls set. Baking until they feel very light means the interior has dried enough to stay hollow for filling.
“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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