Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the choux dough
Combine hot water and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Stir in the flour while boiling until well combined, then let the mixture cool slightly.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Bake the puffs
Drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto a buttered baking sheet.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes until puffed and golden.
Make the custard and fill
Heat milk in a saucepan. Stir in sugar and cornstarch mixed with a little cold milk.
Beat the eggs and sugar together in a bowl, then stir into the boiling milk.
Once thickened, remove from heat and flavor with vanilla.
When the puffs are cool, cut a small opening and fill with the cream.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Bind the dough and set the custard, giving structure and richness to the puffs and filling.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the dough, helping it stay tender.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the starch structure of the dough that holds the puffs' shape while they bake.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding creaminess and body.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the custard so it holds its shape when filled into the puffs.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the flavor of the filling.
The step that matters
Bake until fully puffed and golden. Steam from the moisture in the dough expands the puffs; if they are underbaked they can collapse as they cool because their structure has not set.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, milk, sugar):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg, milk, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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