Name: Chanukah Sufganiot
Ingredients: 4 cups flour; 100 g margarine (1 stick); 30 g yeast (2 tablespoons); 2 tablespoons sugar; 1 1/2 tablespoons cognac; 3 drops vanilla; 1 lemon, zest of; 2 eggs; 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water; Jelly or chocolate for filling

Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

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.

Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,241 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Vanilla + lemontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,961 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 network that gives the doughnuts their structure and chew.
Yeast: Produces gas as it ferments, so the dough rises and becomes light.
Eggs: Add richness, structure and colour to the dough.
Margarine: Adds fat, which tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
Sugar: Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and gentle browning.

The step that matters

Deep-fry at 375 °F until golden. Oil that is too cool lets doughnuts soak up grease and turn heavy, while oil that is too hot browns the outside before the centre cooks. Flipping once lets both sides colour evenly.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, vanilla, egg, chocolate):

Raisinfits better
Figfits better
Blueberryfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, vanilla, egg, chocolate. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cognac	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Chanukah Sufganiot