Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cream Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the pastry
In a saucepan, bring the water and butter to a boil.
Stir in the flour while boiling.
Set the mixture aside to cool.
Add the 5 beaten eggs and mix well.
Bake in patty pans for 15 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
Make and fill the custard
For the custard, combine milk, 2 eggs, ½ cup flour, and sugar in a bowl.
Flavor the custard as desired.
Cut a hole in the side of the tarts when they are cold.
Fill the hole with custard using a teaspoon.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 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
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps give the pastry a tender texture.
- Flour
- Provides structure once the pastry sets in the oven.
- Eggs
- Add structure and set the pastry and custard as they cook.
- Milk
- Provides moisture and body to the custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the custard.
The step that matters
Set the mixture aside to cool before adding the eggs. If the mixture is still hot when the beaten eggs go in, they can scramble rather than blend smoothly, and the dough may not come together evenly.
“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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