Why it works: Butter and flour 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 ↓
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C) and then reduce to 350 °F (175 °C).
In a saucepan, combine butter and boiling water; bring to a boil.
Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously until the mixture forms a ball.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Beat in eggs one at a time until smooth and glossy.
Bake and fill
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until puffs are light and golden.
Cool, then cut an opening in the side and fill with whipped cream or cream filling.
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
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
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help the puffs rise and set as they bake.
- Flour
- Forms the starchy paste that gives the puffs their structure as they set.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and softens the texture of the dough.
The step that matters
Beat in eggs one at a time until smooth and glossy. Eggs must be fully incorporated gradually so the paste stays smooth and can hold steam. Adding them too fast can make the dough too loose, so puffs may not rise or may collapse.
“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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