Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Boston Cream-cakes
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 choux paste
Stir butter into warm water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often.
Add flour and boil for 1 minute, stirring continuously.
Remove from heat, transfer to a deep dish, and let cool.
Beat eggs until light, then mix them into the cooled paste, adding yolks first, then whites.
Drop spoonfuls onto buttered paper, ensuring they don't touch, and bake for 10 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
Make the custard
Mix cornstarch with enough milk to make a smooth paste for the filling.
Boil the remaining milk, then beat eggs and add sugar and the cornstarch mixture.
Gradually pour the egg mixture into the boiling milk, stirring until smooth and thick.
Add 1 teaspoon butter, mix in, then set aside to cool and flavor with vanilla or lemon.
Assemble
Once cooled, split the puffs and fill them with the custard.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 and richness, setting the choux puffs and thickening the custard.
- Flour
- Forms the starch structure of the choux paste that holds the puffs up.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the choux paste and the custard.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, which sets as it thickens.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the custard so it becomes smooth and firm when cooled.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the custard and balances the flavor.
The step that matters
Gradually pour the egg mixture into the boiling milk. Adding the egg mixture slowly while stirring keeps the eggs from scrambling in the hot milk, so the custard stays smooth and thickens evenly.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, milk, sugar):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg, milk, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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