Why it works: Egg and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cream Crullers
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a bowl, combine the water and lard, then heat until the lard melts.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined.
Stir in the grated ammonia and flour until a smooth dough forms.
Fry
Drop spoonfuls of the dough into hot oil and fry until golden brown.
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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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, 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
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness and structure as they set in the hot oil.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten network that gives the dough its body and shape.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the dough and helps the crullers feel crisp and rich.
The step that matters
Frying the dropped dough. If the oil is too cool, the dough absorbs grease and turns heavy; if it is too hot, the outside browns before the centre cooks through. Steady, moderately hot oil lets the crullers puff and cook evenly.
“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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