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Dessert

Murdoch Bros

Baked choux-style puffs, opened at the sides and filled with stiff sweet cream flavoured with chocolate and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Jackson (Tenn.). First Baptist Church. The Silver Thimble Society · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,287 recipes mention both. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Murdoch Bros

one dozen puffs

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Put one cup of boiling water in a basin on the stove and add one-half cup butter.

  2. When thoroughly melted, take from the stove.

  3. Stir in one cup of flour, a little at a time, in which one-half teaspoonful soda is blended.

  4. When thoroughly mixed, add three unbeaten eggs, one at a time.

  5. Stir until the mixture is free from lumps.

Bake and fill

  1. Drop a tablespoonful at a time on well greased tins.

  2. Bake in a quick oven about twenty-five minutes.

  3. When ready to serve, cut a hole in the sides of each puff with the scissors.

  4. Pour in the filling: beat a cupful of sweet cream very stiff.

  5. Add a tablespoonful of chocolate, a very little sugar and a teaspoonful of vanilla.

By Jackson (Tenn.). First Baptist Church. The Silver Thimble Society. 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,032 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
Melts into the boiling water to add fat and richness to the dough.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the puffs together as they bake.
Eggs
Add structure and help the puffs rise and set as they bake.
Sweet cream
Beaten stiff to form a light, moist filling.

The step that matters

Stir until free from lumps. The flour must be fully mixed into the hot butter and water so the dough is smooth. Eggs are added one at a time so the dough stays cohesive and can puff properly 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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