Name: Biscuit a LA Creme
Ingredients: six ounces sugar; one pint cream; four ounces flour; eight eggs; eight yellows; eight whites

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Biscuit a LA Creme

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

Combine six ounces sugar, eight eggs, one pint cream, and four ounces flour.
Beat the cream, adding eight yolks, the sugar, and a little vanilla to flavor.
Beat the eight whites and mix them with the other ingredients.

Bake and serve

Make small paper moulds, and bake in a moderate oven.
Serve with any kind of jelly.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

633Calories

20 gProtein

12 gFat

109 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,481 recipes

Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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

Sugar: Sweetens the batter and helps give the baked crumb a tender texture.
Cream: Adds moisture and richness to the batter.
Flour: Provides starch that gives the baked batter its structure.
Eggs: Set during baking, giving the batter structure.
Egg yolks: Add richness and help the batter set as it bakes.
Egg whites: Hold air that lightens the batter as it bakes.

The step that matters

Mixing in the beaten whites. Beat the whites, then mix them in gently so the air they hold is not lost. That trapped air is what lifts the biscuit as it bakes, and vigorous stirring deflates it, leaving a dense result.

“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.

White Cake431 recipes

Pound Cake373 recipes

Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes

Spice Cake344 recipes

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Biscuit a LA Creme