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Dessert

German Puffs

A light, airy cake made with milk, eggs, flour, baking soda, butter, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

German Puffs

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Separate the egg whites and yolks.

  3. Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.

Make the batter

  1. Mix the egg yolks with half the milk and half the flour until smooth.

  2. Add the remaining milk and flour, then warm the butter and stir it in.

  3. Beat the batter until light and bubbly, then gently fold in the baking soda and egg whites.

Bake and serve

  1. Butter teacups or an earthen mold and pour in the batter.

  2. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until puffed and golden.

  3. Serve with butter and sugar or your preferred sauce.

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.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Whipped whites and yolks give the puffs their light, airy structure as they set in the oven.
Flour
Forms the batter's body, setting into the puffs' firm structure as they bake.
Milk
Hydrates the flour and adds moisture and richness to the batter.
Baking soda
Reacts with the batter to produce gas that helps the puffs rise.
Butter
Adds fat for richer flavor and a tender crumb.

The step that matters

Folding in the baking soda and egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air in the whipped whites and the gas from the baking soda, which are what make the puffs rise. Stirring or beating hard after this knocks the air out, leaving dense, flat puffs.

“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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