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 ↓
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the batter
In a saucepan, combine the butter and boiling water.
Stir in the flour until well mixed.
Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then add the beaten eggs and dissolved baking soda.
Bake
Preheat the gem pans in the oven and grease them.
Spoon the batter into the heated gem pans.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.
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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Butter + flourtop 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).
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
- Eggs
- Provide structure as they set, and steam from them helps the puffs rise and hold a hollow centre.
- All-purpose flour
- Its starch gelatinises with the hot liquid and sets with the egg, forming the puff's walls.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and gives the dough a tender texture as it melts into the hot water.
- Baking soda
- Releases gas when dissolved and warmed, adding lift and helping the puffs brown.
The step that matters
Let the mixture cool slightly before adding the eggs. If the hot paste is too warm when eggs go in, they can scramble and the dough may thin out, weakening the structure needed for the puffs to rise and stay hollow.
“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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