Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Strawberry Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Remove the hulls from the strawberries and pass them through a fine sieve.
Whisk the eggs thoroughly and mix them with the sugar and strawberry puree.
Line patty pans with puff pastry.
Fill and bake
Place a small amount of the fruit mixture in the center of each pastry, leaving space around the edges.
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 10 minutes.
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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the filling and add richness and structure to the custard-like mixture.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the filling and dissolves smoothly into the puree and eggs.
- Fresh strawberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor, aroma and moisture of the filling.
- Puff pastry
- Forms the flaky, buttery crust that holds the filling.
The step that matters
Leave space around the edges of the pastry. Spooning filling close to the edges can cause it to spill over and burn while the pastry around it needs room to rise and brown, so the filling should sit in the center.
“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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