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 ↓
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine one pint of water, half a pound of butter, and three-quarters of a pound of flour in a saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
While boiling, stir in the flour until fully incorporated.
Let the mixture boil for five minutes.
Gradually stir in ten eggs, one at a time, without beating.
Bake and cool
Drop spoonfuls of the dough into a pan, spacing them apart, and bake in a quick oven for fifteen minutes.
Allow the puffs to cool completely.
Make the filling and fill
Combine one quart of milk, two cups of sugar, one cup of flour, and four eggs for the filling.
Boil the milk.
Beat the eggs, sugar, and flour together.
Stir the beaten mixture into the boiling milk, stirring constantly until thick, about five minutes.
Flavor the filling to taste.
When the puffs are cold, cut them open and fill with the cream.
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).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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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
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness by setting the dough as it bakes and puffs.
- Butter
- Adds fat and tenderness to the dough, helping it stay rich and soft.
- Flour
- Provides the starch that gelatinizes and gives the dough and filling their body.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the filling and, with eggs and flour, thickens it into a cream.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the filling and balances its richness.
The step that matters
Gradually stir in ten eggs, one at a time, without beating.. The dough must be smooth and glossy enough to hold its shape. Adding eggs slowly lets each one blend in fully, and the dough's structure lets steam lift the puffs 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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