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 with Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and bake the base
Roll out the thin puff pastry and lay it in a patty pan of your choice.
Add the raspberries and sprinkle fine sugar over them.
Cover with a thin lid and bake until golden.
Add the custard and finish
In a bowl, mix the warm cream, beaten egg yolks, and a little sugar.
Pour this mixture into the tart and return it 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
- Puff pastry
- Forms a crisp, golden shell that holds the filling.
- Raspberries
- Add tart fruit flavour and juice to the filling.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, soft texture to the custard.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken and set the cream into a custard.
- Fine sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the tart raspberries.
The step that matters
Returning the custard to the oven. Egg yolks set as they heat, so a few minutes too long can overcook the custard, making it grainy or curdled. Pull it once the centre just wobbles, since it firms as it cools.
“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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