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Dessert

Boston Cream Cakes

Boston Cream Cakes are small cakes made from butter, flour, eggs, and soda, baked quickly and filled with cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fayette (Mo.). Baptist Church, Ladies of the · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 20 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Boston Cream Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the puffs

  1. Boil the butter and water together.

  2. Stir in the flour when boiling.

  3. When cool, add the eggs and soda, the size of a pea.

  4. Drop by the spoonful on a buttered baking pan, leaving space so that the cakes will not touch while risen.

  5. Bake in a very quick oven, about ten minutes.

Fill and serve

  1. When cold, make an incision at the side, and fill with the following cream:

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

851Calories
28 gProtein
27 gFat
123 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

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

By Fayette (Mo.). Baptist Church, Ladies of the. 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.

  1. Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the dough and provide structure so the puffs hold their shape and rise.
Flour
Forms the starchy paste that sets the puffs' walls as they bake.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, tenderizing the paste and aiding a soft interior.
Soda
Releases gas that helps the puffs lift and expand in the oven.
Milk
Adds moisture and richness to the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown in the oven.

The step that matters

When cool, add the eggs and soda. Eggs added to a paste that is still hot can scramble and fail to blend smoothly. Cooling the paste first lets the eggs incorporate evenly, giving a batter stiff enough to hold its shape and rise well in the oven.

“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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