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Dessert

German Puffs

A custard cake made with almonds, eggs, cream, butter, sugar, and flavored with brandy or orange-flower water, baked in cups.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

German Puffs

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Pound the Jordan and bitter almonds to a smooth paste.

  2. Gradually mix in the egg yolks and egg whites.

  3. Dissolve the butter and sugar in the cream over low heat.

  4. Pour the hot butter-sugar-cream mixture into the egg mixture while stirring briskly.

  5. Once cool, flavor the mixture with brandy, cuirasseau, orange-flower water, or lemon-brandy.

Bake

  1. Butter some cups thickly.

  2. Add a few slices of candied citron or orange rind to the cups.

  3. Pour the mixture into the cups.

  4. Bake for 20 minutes in a 300°F (150°C) oven.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Brandy + orangetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,706 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Enrich the custard and help it set into a tender, rich texture.
Egg whites
Add structure and lift so the custard bakes into a light, set body.
Fresh butter
Adds richness and a smooth, tender mouthfeel to the custard.
Rich cream
Supplies moisture and fat for a silky, soft custard texture.
Jordan almonds
Provide the main almond flavor and body once pounded into a paste.

The step that matters

Pouring the hot butter-sugar-cream into the eggs. Adding hot liquid too quickly to eggs can scramble them. Stirring briskly while pouring spreads the heat evenly, keeping the custard smooth.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, egg, cream, butter, sugar, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, egg, cream, butter, sugar, brandy. 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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