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 says “a fairly hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Boil ½ cup butter in 1 cup of hot water.
Stir in 1 cup of flour and cook until it pulls away from the sides of the dish, then set aside to cool.
Once cool, stir in 4 eggs one at a time without beating.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls onto buttered baking sheets.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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
- Butter
- Melts into the boiling water to add fat, richness and tenderness to the dough.
- All-purpose flour
- Its starch thickens into a paste that gives the puffs their structure once baked.
- Eggs
- Add moisture and structure, and their water turns to steam that lifts the puffs as they bake.
The step that matters
Stirring in the eggs. Add the eggs gradually and do not beat hard. The paste must be cool enough that the eggs do not scramble, and it must be smooth and glossy enough to hold its shape. Overworking it loosens the structure, so the puffs may collapse or fail to rise.
“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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