Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Tart Crust
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine 3 cups flour and 1 cup lard.
Add 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 egg white, beat well.
Add 3 teaspoons water.
Roll dough thin as pie crust.
Add 4 tablespoons sweet cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, and a pinch of salt.
Knead dough very hard.
Shape the knots
Roll out dough.
Cut dough into narrow strips.
Tie each strip into 2 or 3 knots.
Fry and serve
Fry knots in hot lard.
Sprinkle with white sugar while hot.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
-
Cream + teatop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together463 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Flour + teatop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together449 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the dough as its proteins and starches set when cooked.
- Lard (in the method)
- Adds fat that keeps the dough tender and gives the fried knots a rich flavour.
- Sweet cream
- Adds fat and moisture, making the dough softer and more tender.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the dough and to the finished knots.
- Egg white (in the method)
- Helps bind the dough and adds structure as it cooks.
The step that matters
Fry knots in hot lard. The lard must be hot enough to seal the outside of the dough quickly. Hot fat cooks the surface fast, so the knots absorb less grease and brown evenly instead of becoming heavy and oily.
“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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