Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Wafers
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the clarified butter, egg yolks, sugar, and flour until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Add the yeast and cream to the mixture and combine well.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Let the batter stand for 2 hours.
Bake and serve
Preheat the wafer irons and grease them with butter.
Pour the batter into the irons and bake until golden.
Sprinkle with sugar before serving.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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).
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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they add lightness and airy structure to the batter.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the batter while setting as the wafers bake.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the wafers together as they bake.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during the resting time, helping the batter rise and become lighter.
- Clarified butter
- Adds fat for rich flavor and helps the wafers brown and crisp.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the batter and contributing to tenderness.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air that gives lift. Stirring them vigorously would deflate the foam, so fold gently to keep the batter light.
“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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