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Dessert

Cream Fritters

A sweet dessert made by thickening milk with corn starch, adding sugar, almonds, orange water, and eggs, then frying crumbed strips.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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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 ↓

Cream Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Boil 1 quart of milk and thicken with 1 tablespoon corn starch dissolved in a little cold water.

  2. Add 1 large tablespoon butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup blanched and chopped almonds, and 1 tablespoon orange water.

  3. Boil for five minutes.

  4. Take from the fire.

  5. Stir in 6 well beaten eggs.

  6. Spread about an inch thick on an oiled platter.

  7. Allow to cool.

Shape and fry

  1. Cut into strips an inch wide and three long.

  2. Roll carefully in fine crumbs.

  3. Dip in beaten egg.

  4. Dip again in crumbs.

  5. Fry in boiling lard.

  6. Drain on brown paper.

Finish and serve

  1. Dust with powdered sugar.

  2. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

440Calories
16 gProtein
25 gFat
40 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

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

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

  3. Corn + orangetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together586 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,345 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Milk + orangetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,696 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Beaten eggs stirred into the custard set it into a firm mass that holds its shape when cut.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, which cornstarch thickens into a spreadable mixture.
Corn starch
Thickens the boiled milk so the custard becomes firm enough to cool, cut and fry.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to the custard and to the finished fritters.
Almonds (in the method)
Add nutty flavor and body to the custard.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor to the custard.

The step that matters

Cool the custard fully before cutting and frying. Starch-thickened custard that is still warm stays soft and will break apart when cut and dipped. Cooling lets the starch and egg set so the strips hold their shape through breading and frying.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, corn, sugar, butter, egg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Coconutfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, corn, sugar, butter, egg. 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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