Why it works: Flour and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Cream Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Line patty pans with short crust pastry.
Place a little jam in each patty pan.
Make the filling
In a bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar.
Add flour, sultanas, and baking powder to the mixture.
Spoon the mixture on top of the jam.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
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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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Margarine
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the filling a tender, rich texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the filling together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Creamed with margarine for a soft texture and adds sweetness and browning.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the filling rises and becomes light.
- Jam
- Adds sweetness and fruity flavour beneath the filling as it bakes.
The step that matters
Creaming the margarine and sugar. Beating them together until light traps air bubbles that expand in the oven. Under-creaming yields a dense filling, while the baking powder then has less air to work with.
“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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