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 ↓
Jelly Tartlets
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 the fats
Wash the butter in three waters to remove salt.
Melt the butter in a tin cup over boiling water.
Skim off the scum from the melted butter.
Let the melted butter cool slightly.
Beat the melted butter into the egg yolk gradually.
Make the dough
Mix the butter and egg yolk into the flour, adding enough ice water to form a soft dough.
Roll the dough into a thin sheet.
Spread the dough with lard, sprinkling lightly with flour.
Roll up the dough and flatten it with a rolling pin.
Roll the dough out again into a thinner sheet.
Lubricate the dough with lard, sprinkle with flour, and roll it tightly.
Chill the rolled dough for an hour.
Cut the dough in half, reserving some for later.
Bake and fill
Line small patty pans with the dough, pricking the bottoms to prevent puffing.
Bake the tartlets in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden.
Once cooled, fill each tartlet with a tablespoon of sweet jelly or jam.
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
- Forms the structure of the dough once bound with butter, egg yolk and water.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flakiness as its layers separate during rolling and baking.
- Lard
- Layered between dough sheets to create tender, flaky separation during baking.
- Egg yolk
- Enriches the dough and helps bind it, adding tenderness and colour.
- Sweet jelly or jam
- Provides the sweet filling that sets and flavours each tartlet.
The step that matters
Rolling and layering the dough. Spreading fat between thin sheets and rolling repeatedly creates flaky layers. If the dough is too warm or the fat is absorbed into it, the layers merge and the pastry turns dense rather than flaky.
“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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