Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
In a saucepan, combine hot water and butter over medium heat until boiling.
Add all the flour at once and stir quickly until it forms a ball that leaves the pan.
Set aside to cool slightly, then add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Heat the mixture vigorously for about 5 minutes.
Shape and bake
Drop teaspoonfuls onto a buttered baking sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and puffed.
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.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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 gelatinizes and sets with egg proteins to form the hollow shell structure.
- Eggs
- Proteins add structure and moisture, and help the shell stretch and puff.
- Butter
- Fat adds richness and tenderness to the shell.
- Hot water
- Turns to steam in the oven, pushing the dough up to create the hollow interior.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs after cooling slightly. If the dough is too hot, the eggs can scramble; if it is too cool, the eggs will not blend smoothly and the batter will not have enough structure to puff. Adding them one at a time and mixing well lets the dough absorb them evenly, giving a smooth, elastic batter that rises 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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