Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 43,450 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Mary Kec
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine three yolks of eggs, three tablespoons cream, one teaspoon sugar, pinch of salt, and flour enough to make a stiff dough.
Knead the dough well.
Roll the dough out on a board.
Fry and finish
Cut the dough into three-inch squares, or tear into pieces; irregular shapes are acceptable.
Fry the pieces in a kettle of smoking hot lard, turning once.
Sprinkle the fried pieces with powdered sugar.
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. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg share little aroma chemistry, yet 42,166 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and tenderness to the dough and help bind it.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and fat, making the dough softer and more tender.
- Lard (in the method)
- Frying fat that cooks the pieces quickly and gives them a crisp, golden surface.
The step that matters
Fry in smoking hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the pieces absorb excess fat and turn greasy and heavy. Very hot fat sets the outside quickly, so the pastry puffs and crisps instead of soaking up oil.
“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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