Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the choux dough
Boil the butter and water together in a saucepan.
Stir in the flour while boiling until well combined.
Let the mixture cool.
Add the 5 beaten eggs and mix well.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking sheets.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden brown.
Make the filling and assemble
For the filling, combine milk, sugar, corn starch, and 2 eggs in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
Once the puffs are cool, fill them with the prepared filling.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Flour and butter 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
- Flour
- Provides the starch structure that holds the puffs' shape after baking.
- Eggs
- Add structure and moisture, and help the puffs rise and set as they bake.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and melts into the boiling water to start the dough.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the filling as it cooks so it sets smoothly.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the filling and adds creaminess.
The step that matters
Cooking the filling until thickened. Corn starch only thickens once the mixture reaches a boil while stirred constantly. Stopping early leaves the filling runny, and scorching can occur if it sits unstirred on the heat.
“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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