IllustrationWhy it works: Cream and butter match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 41,494 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: almond, nuts
Directions
Make the base
Melt the butter.
Stir the flour into the butter until smooth.
Stir the mixture into the hot cream.
Finish the soup
Cook for ten minutes.
Add the hot stock and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the blanched almonds.
Serve.
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.
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Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cream + buttertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,494 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together122,858 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together85,512 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Cream + peppertop 13% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together21,446 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Flour + peppertop 13% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together49,477 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 122,858 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Adds richness and flavour, and with the flour forms a smooth base for thickening.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup when stirred smooth into the melted butter.
- Cream
- Adds richness and body to the soup.
- White stock
- Forms the liquid base and adds savoury flavour.
The step that matters
Stir the mixture into the hot cream. Flour must be fully dispersed as it meets the liquid. Stirring as it goes in helps prevent lumps and lets the starch thicken the soup evenly.
“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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