Why it works: Flour and butter 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 ↓
Iced Rolls
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the pastry
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, rub together the flour, butter, and crushed sugar until well combined.
Beat the yolk of the egg with a little water and add it to the flour mixture to form a paste.
Knead the paste for one minute, then roll it out.
Bake the shells
Butter some mince-pie tins and line them with the paste.
Place a small ball of paper in each tin to keep the lid raised, then cover with another layer of paste.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
Once baked, turn the rolls out of the tins bottom side up and let them cool.
When cool, cut a hole in the top of each roll and remove the paper.
Top and serve
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and cover the rolls with the meringue.
Dust the meringue with sifted sugar and place in a low oven to brown.
When ready to serve, fill the rolls with custard and top with sweetmeat.
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 + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Flour and butter 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
- Fine flour
- Forms the paste that gives the rolls their structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, making the pastry tender and short.
- Egg yolk
- Binds the paste and adds richness and colour to the pastry.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a meringue that sets and browns over the rolls.
- Sifted sugar
- Sweetens the pastry and helps the meringue brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Browning the meringue in a low oven. Meringue is mostly sugar and air; in a low oven it dries and turns golden slowly. Too much heat can weep or scorch it before it sets.
“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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