Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
Melt one half pound of lard in one pint of boiling water, stirring while boiling into three quarters of a pound of flour.
Boil until a thick paste is formed.
Set the kettle containing the mixture into a vessel of boiling water.
When thick, take from the fire; when cool, add ten eggs and a little salt. Mix all well.
Bake and serve
Drop with a spoon onto buttered tins, some distance apart.
Bake quickly.
Serve with syrup.
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 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| 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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help the puffs rise and set as they bake.
- Flour
- Forms the thick paste that gives the puffs their body and holds their shape.
- Lard
- Adds fat and tenderness to the paste, contributing to a flaky, rich texture.
The step that matters
Cool the paste before adding the eggs. If the paste is still very hot, the eggs will scramble or cook unevenly instead of blending smoothly. A cooled paste lets the eggs emulsify, which gives the batter the stretch needed to puff.
“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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