Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Orange Tartlets
10 or 12 tartletsIngredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Beat in each egg yolk one at a time.
Mix the grated orange peel, cornflour, and orange juice until smooth.
Add the orange mixture to the batter.
Fold in the cake crumbs and the stiffly whipped egg whites.
Bake and finish
Pour the mixture into 10 or 12 tartlet tins lined with pastry.
Bake for about 20 minutes until set and lightly golden.
Let cool.
Frost with icing as desired.
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 + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Orange + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Whipped whites give lift and structure, while yolks enrich the filling and help it set.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Castor sugar
- Creams with butter to aerate the batter and adds sweetness.
- Cake crumbs
- Add body and absorb moisture, giving the filling a softer, cake-like texture.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the orange mixture so the filling sets smoothly when baked.
- Orange juice
- Adds moisture and bright acidity that balances the sweetness.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites must be stiffly whipped and folded gently so the air they hold is not lost. Deflating the batter makes the tartlets dense instead of light.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg. 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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