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 ↓
Doughnuts and Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Scald the Indian meal in a pot.
In a bowl, mix the scalded meal, sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and egg until smooth.
Fry and serve
Drop tablespoonfuls of the batter into hot fat.
Fry until golden brown, then remove with a skimmer.
Drain excess fat.
Pile on a hot dish.
Sift sugar over them before serving.
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 + flourtop 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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg 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
- Indian meal
- Forms the body of the batter and gives the doughnuts their cornmeal structure and texture.
- Egg
- Binds the batter together and helps hold the doughnuts in shape while frying.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the batter to lighten it and help the doughnuts rise and brown.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown in the hot fat.
The step that matters
Frying the batter in hot fat. If the fat is not hot enough, the doughnuts absorb excess oil and turn greasy and dense. If it is too hot, the outside browns before the inside cooks through. Steady, moderate heat gives a golden crust and a fully cooked centre.
“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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