Name: Boston Cream-cakes
Ingredients: ½ pound butter; ¾ pound all-purpose flour; 8 large eggs; 2 cups hot water

Why it works: Butter and flour 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 ↓

Boston Cream-cakes

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

½ pound butter
¾ pound all-purpose flour
8 large eggs
2 cups hot water

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.

Make the dough

Melt the butter in the hot water over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil.
Add the flour and stir continuously until the mixture leaves the sides of the saucepan, about 1 minute.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing briskly for 1 minute for each egg, then beat for an additional 2 minutes.
Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Bake and fill

Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a buttered baking sheet, ensuring they do not touch.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Once cool, make a slit in the side of each cake and fill with whipped cream mixed with sugar and vanilla.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 and richness, and helps give the dough a tender crumb.
All-purpose flour: Forms the starch and gluten structure that holds the puffed cakes together.
Eggs: Provide structure and lift as they expand in the oven, and add richness.
Hot water: Melts the butter and gelatinizes the flour, helping the dough form.

The step that matters

Beating in the eggs. The batter must be smooth and glossy before baking. Adding eggs too quickly or under-mixing can leave the dough too loose or lumpy, which prevents the cakes from puffing and forming 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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Boston Cream-cakes