Why it works: Flour and biscuit match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 889 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Creme Patissiere, or Pastry Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Gradually add the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs to 1 ounce of fine flour.
Stir briskly until well combined.
If desired, substitute with crumbled ratifias, macaroons, or stale sponge.
Add more lemon to taste.
Gently boil the mixture for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously to prevent curdling.
Allow to cool; it can be stored for a long time.
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 + biscuittop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together889 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Biscuit + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together697 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, biscuit):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Blueberryfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, biscuit. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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