Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Raspberry Tart
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Line a patty pan with puff pastry.
Assemble and bake
Place raspberries in the pan and sprinkle with finely sifted sugar.
Cover with another layer of puff pastry and bake until golden.
Add custard and finish
Remove the top layer of pastry and pour in the cream mixed with egg yolks and sweetened to taste.
Return the tart to the oven for 5 to 6 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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Raspberries
- Provide the fruit flavour and juicy filling that softens slightly during baking.
- Puff pastry
- Forms the flaky, crisp base and top layer that bakes golden.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth body to the filling once it sets.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream mixture into a set, custard-like filling when heated.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the raspberries and custard and helps the fruit balance its tartness.
The step that matters
Return the tart to the oven for 5 to 6 minutes. Egg yolks in the cream set with gentle heat; too long or too hot can curdle or overcook the custard, leaving it grainy or watery rather than smooth.
“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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