Name: Bismarck Doughnuts
Ingredients: 4 cups of flour; 1 1/2 cups milk; 2 pk. yeast; 4 heaping Tbl. sugar; a dash of salt; 4 Tbl. butter; 8 egg yolks

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 ↓

Bismarck Doughnuts

Time2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

Boil the milk, add the butter and sugar, and then cool.
Add the yeast and milk, and beat the egg yolks well with a beater.
Add this mixture to the flour.
Let the dough rise for 2 hours.

Shape and fry

Roll the dough lightly on a floured board to a thickness of 3/8 inch, and cut out round circles.
Lightly cover the dough circles with a cloth and let rise again for about 1/2 hour.
Fry the doughnuts in hot Crisco oil (vegetable oil) or lard.
Flip the doughnuts over to brown both sides.
Drain the doughnuts for a few seconds on paper towels.

Fill and finish

If you want jelly Bismarcks, add jelly after they are fried.
Use a pastry bag to add jelly.
Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the doughnuts.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

833Calories

27 gProtein

26 gFat

120 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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 + 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 + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

Flour: Forms the gluten structure that traps gas and gives the fried doughnuts their body.
Yeast: Produces carbon dioxide during fermentation, so the dough rises and becomes light.
Egg yolks: Add richness, fat and emulsifying lecithin for a tender, smooth crumb.
Butter: Adds fat for tenderness and flavor in the enriched dough.
Milk: Provides moisture and hydrates the flour so gluten can develop.
Sugar: Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and some browning in the fryer.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise fully before shaping and frying. Yeast needs time to produce enough gas for a light interior. Under-proofed dough stays dense and can turn heavy or greasy when fried.

“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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Bismarck Doughnuts