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Alsatian Dumplings

A butter and egg dumpling made with flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and beaten egg whites, simmered in salted water.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Alsatian Dumplings

Timeabout 5 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Cream butter until soft.

  2. Beat in egg yolks.

  3. Gradually stir in flour, seasoning and stiffly beaten egg whites.

  4. Shape in small balls 1 inch in diameter.

Cook the dumplings

  1. Drop into boiling salted water.

  2. Simmer, covered, about 5 minutes.

  3. Do not let dumplings boil.

Serve

  1. Put in hot tureen and pour hot soup over them.

  2. Or cook dumplings in boiling hot bouillon or consommé.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

653Calories
20 gProtein
19 gFat
98 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 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.

  1. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together24,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Butter and flour 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

Butter
Creams with the dough to add richness and a tender, short texture.
Egg whites
Beaten stiff and folded in to lighten the dumplings and help them puff.
Egg yolks
Add richness, colour and binding to the dough.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds each dumpling together.

The step that matters

Do not let dumplings boil. At a hard boil the dumplings can break apart and turn tough. A gentle simmer cooks them through while keeping them tender and intact.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, flour, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits about as well
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Capersfits less well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, flour, pepper. 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.

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