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 ↓
Lemon Tartlets
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.
Prepare the filling
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and whites together.
Add the grated lemon rind and lemon juice.
In a saucepan, combine the butter and sugar, then add the egg mixture.
Simmer until the mixture is smooth and the consistency of honey.
Make the pastry and bake
In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and cold water to form a dough.
Roll out the dough thinly and cut into rounds to fit tartlet tins.
Press the dough into the tins and bake for 15 minutes.
Fill each tartlet with 1 teaspoon of the lemon filling and serve.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Lemon + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Eggs
- Yolks and whites thicken the filling as it cooks, giving it a set, custard-like body.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it become smooth and glossy as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity that gives the filling its characteristic tang.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough, holding the tartlet shells together while baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the pastry rises slightly and turns light and tender.
The step that matters
Simmer the filling until it reaches honey consistency. Eggs thicken as they heat, but overheating can scramble them and leave lumps. Stop once the mixture is smooth and thick enough to coat a spoon, so the filling sets properly when cooled.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, butter, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, butter, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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