Name: Doughnuts
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; ½ cup sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 2 large eggs; ½ cup milk; ¼ cup melted butter; Oil for frying

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Doughnuts

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 375°F (190°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the dough

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
In another bowl, beat eggs, then add milk and melted butter.
Combine wet and dry ingredients until just mixed.
Roll out dough on a floured surface to about ½ inch thick.
Cut into doughnut shapes and let rest for 10 minutes.

Fry and finish

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375°F (190°C).
Fry doughnuts until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Drain on paper towels and dust with sugar if desired.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

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

All-purpose flour: Provides the structure that holds the doughnut together as it fries.
Eggs: Add structure and richness, helping the dough bind and set.
Baking powder: Releases gas that lifts the dough so the doughnuts rise and stay tender.
Milk: Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and keeps the dough soft.
Melted butter: Adds fat for tenderness and a richer crumb.
Sugar: Sweetens the dough and helps the surface brown during frying.

The step that matters

Frying at the right temperature. Oil at 375°F (190°C) sets the outside quickly while the inside cooks through. Oil that is too cool soaks in grease and yields greasy, heavy doughnuts, while oil that is too hot browns the outside before the centre is cooked.