Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Strawberry Charlottes in Oases 'or Fifty
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare 50 paper cases as described in the previous article.
Separate the eggs. Beat the yolks with sugar and water for 10 minutes.
Whip the egg whites until firm.
Stir the flour into the beaten yolks, then gently fold in the whipped whites.
Spread the batter thinly on ungreased paper and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 6 minutes.
Brush the underside of the paper with water to remove it from the cake.
If the cake sheets are too dry, wet the paper and let them sit for 30 minutes before cutting.
Cut the cake into pieces using the same pattern as the paper cases, slightly shorter, and line the cases with the cake.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
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