Why it works: Butter and milk 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
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the choux dough
In a saucepan, combine the butter and cold water; bring to a boil.
Add the flour and simmer for a short time until combined.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking pan.
Bake and fill
Bake in a very hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until thoroughly cooked.
Once cooled, fill the puffs with cream made from milk, sugar, eggs, and flour.
Flavor the cream to taste.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the dough and adds tenderness to the cooked puffs.
- All-purpose flour
- Starches gelatinize and set the structure of the dough as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Provide structure and leavening through steam, so the puffs rise and set hollow.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the cream filling and adds richness and body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cream filling and contributes to its texture.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs one at a time. Each egg must be fully blended in before the next goes in, otherwise the dough can separate or stay too stiff to hold its shape. A smooth, glossy dough traps steam during baking, which is what makes the puffs rise and form hollow centers.
“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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