Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Ceeam Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine half a cup of butter and 1 cup of hot water; set on stove and bring to a boil.
While boiling, add 1 cup of flour; stir well.
Remove from stove and let cool.
When cool, stir in 3 eggs, one after the other, without beating.
Bake
Drop dough onto buttered tins and bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes.
Make the custard
In a saucepan, combine 1 cup of milk, one-quarter cup of sugar, 1 egg, and a small tablespoon of cornstarch; cook as custard and flavor with vanilla.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 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 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| 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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
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).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Starch that gelatinizes with the boiling water and gives the dough enough structure to hold its shape.
- Eggs
- Proteins set during baking and steam from their water helps the puffs rise and form hollow centers.
- Butter
- Fat that adds richness and tenderness to the dough and helps prevent sticking to the tins.
- Milk
- Provides liquid and milk proteins that thicken and flavor the custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the custard and helps it brown slightly as it cooks.
The step that matters
Stir the eggs into the cooled dough without beating. Eggs added to dough that is too hot can scramble or cook unevenly. Adding them one at a time and mixing gently keeps the dough smooth and thick enough to hold its shape, so the puffs rise well instead of spreading or collapsing.
“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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