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 ↓
Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the choux batter
Boil ½ pint of water in a small kettle.
Add ⅔ cup of butter and 1½ cups of flour to the boiling water.
Stir briskly.
Remove the mixture from heat.
Let the mixture cool completely.
Beat 5 large eggs thoroughly.
Stir the beaten eggs into the cooled mixture one spoonful at a time until smooth.
Drop the batter onto a greased baking sheet in small pear-shaped cakes.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes until golden brown and hollow inside.
Make the cream filling
Heat 1 pint of milk in a pail set in boiling water for the cream filling.
Beat 2 eggs, ⅔ cup corn starch, 1 cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and some vanilla extract in a bowl.
Mix the beaten eggs, corn starch, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract thoroughly.
Add ½ cup of milk to the mixture.
Stir the mixture into the boiling milk until thick.
Fill and serve
Cut open the cakes near the bottom.
Fill the cakes with the cold cream.
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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Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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
- Bind the batter and set the custard, giving the cakes structure and the cream its body.
- Flour
- Forms the base structure of the choux batter that holds the cakes together.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, contributing tenderness and flavour to the cakes.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the cream filling as it heats with the milk.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the cream filling, adding richness and body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cream filling and adds to its smooth texture.
The step that matters
Stir the mixture into the boiling milk until thick. Corn starch thickens only when it reaches a boil and is stirred constantly, so stopping early leaves a thin cream and stirring unevenly can cause lumps.
“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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