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Jolly Boys Fritters

A fried cornmeal batter fritter served with maple syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓

Jolly Boys Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Mix 2 1/2 heaping tablespoons of sifted yellow cornmeal, 2 heaping tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 saltspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon baking powder.

  2. Beat 1 large egg and add to the dry mixture.

  3. Add milk enough to make a stiff drop batter.

Fry and serve

  1. Beat well and drop by teaspoon into hot lard.

  2. Serve with maple syrup.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

582Calories
19 gProtein
6 gFat
108 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
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.

By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog]. 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. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  2. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
Provides the starch that gives the fritters their structure as they set.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, helping the fritters puff and turn light.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure and richness.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the outside brown in the hot fat.

The step that matters

Drop the batter into hot lard. The fat must be hot enough to set the outside of each fritter quickly. If the lard is too cool, the batter soaks up grease and turns heavy and oily instead of crisp and light.

“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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