Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cream Puffs
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.
Make the dough
Heat the water and lard in a saucepan over high heat until boiling.
Add the flour and stir briefly while boiling.
Transfer the mixture to another dish.
Stir the mixture until cool.
Add the eggs and ammonia, mixing well.
Bake and serve
Drop spoonfuls onto floured baking sheets.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden.
Fill with custard or whipped cream, as desired.
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 + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg 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
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Add structure and moisture, and help the puffs rise and set as they bake.
- All-purpose flour
- Its starch sets when cooked, giving the puffs a firm shell to hold their shape.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the dough and helps it brown as it bakes.
- Ammonia
- Releases gas as it heats, adding lift to the puffs.
The step that matters
Cool the mixture before adding the eggs. If the dough is still very hot, the eggs can scramble instead of blending in. Well-blended eggs give the dough the stretch it needs to puff up in the oven.
“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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