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Dessert

Jellied Cookies

Cookies with a jelly filling, baked and then dipped in icing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Jellied Cookies

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

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 batter

  1. Separate the eggs and beat the yolks until creamy.

  2. Add sugar and beat well.

  3. Mix in vanilla, then pour in cold water and flour alternately, adding the baking powder sifted with the flour.

  4. Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.

Bake and fill

  1. Bake at 400°F (200°C) until done, similar to "Chocolate Squares."

  2. Once cooled, put jelly between the cookies and dip in chocolate, caramel, or white icing.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

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
Yolks add richness and the whipped whites lighten the batter for a tender structure.
Flour
Provides the main structure that sets as the cookies bake.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the beaten yolks become creamy and stable.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cookies rise and become lighter.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold air that gives lift. Folding gently keeps that air in the batter; vigorous stirring deflates it and leaves the cookies dense.

“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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