Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Penny Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Soak the yeast in ½ cup of lukewarm water.
Mix all ingredients except the yeast and flour.
When the mixture is lukewarm, add the yeast and enough flour to make it too thick to stir.
Mix a little with your hands and set in a warm place to rise.
When light, knead down and place in the refrigerator.
Rise and bake
Pinch off at night and place in buttered gem pans to prepare for breakfast.
Rub a little butter on top to prevent a crust from forming and set in a warm place overnight.
Pinch off in the early morning and bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 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.
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour 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
What each ingredient does
- Yeast cake
- Leavens the dough so the puffs rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness to the dough.
- Lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a softer crumb.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the yeast ferment and brown lightly.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together as it rises.
The step that matters
Rising the dough to light. The dough must become visibly light before it is kneaded down. Yeast needs warmth to produce gas, and under-proofed dough bakes up dense and heavy.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.