Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Raspberry Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Roll out the thin puff pastry and lay it in a patty pan.
Add the raspberries and sprinkle fine sugar over them.
Bake and finish
Cover with a lid and bake until golden.
Once baked, cut it open and pour in the cream mixed with the egg yolks and sugar.
Return to the oven for a brief heat until set.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Puff pastry
- Forms the crisp, flaky case that holds the filling.
- Raspberries
- Provide fruit flavour and juice that moistens the pastry as it bakes.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a silky texture to the custard filling.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream on gentle heat so it sets into a custard.
The step that matters
Returning the custard to the oven. Egg yolks set at moderate heat, but overheating makes the cream curdle and turn grainy. A brief, gentle heat is enough to set the custard while keeping it smooth.
“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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