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 ↓
Consomme Aux Petits Choux Farcis
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a fairly quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the choux paste
In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter with about ½ cup of water and a pinch of salt until boiling.
Stir in the flour and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until a smooth paste forms and the sides of the pan are clean.
Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then stir in the egg.
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a plain tube and pipe even-sized heaps onto a greased baking sheet, spacing them about an inch apart.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden.
Fill and serve
Cut a small portion from the bottom of each choux and scoop out some of the inside.
Fill the cavities with forcemeat, replace the crust, and place the choux in a buttered sauté pan.
Cover with greased paper and bake for about 12 minutes to cook the filling.
To serve, place the choux in a soup tureen and pour in the heated consommé.
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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Butter + chickentop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Flour + chickentop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,559 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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
- Flour
- Starch that gelatinises with the butter and water to form the choux paste structure.
- Egg
- Adds moisture and binds the paste, helping the choux puff and set as it bakes.
- Butter
- Melts into the boiling water to give the paste richness and tenderness.
- Chicken or veal forcemeat
- Provides the savoury filling that sits inside the baked choux.
The step that matters
Stir in the flour until the paste pulls away from the pan. Vigorous mixing cooks the flour starch and drives off moisture so the paste can hold its shape and trap steam. A runny or under-mixed paste will spread flat and bake up dense instead of hollow.
“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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