Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Bell Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into a pint of water.
Let it boil a few minutes.
Thicken it very smoothly with a pint of flour.
Let it remain a short time on the fire, stirring all the time so it does not stick to the pan.
Pour it into a wooden bowl.
Add five or six eggs, breaking one and beating it in.
Add another egg, and so on until all eggs are in and the dough is quite light.
Fry the fritters
Put a pint of lard in a pan and let it boil.
Make the fritters small.
Fry them until a fine amber colour.
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 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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.
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Flour
- Starch thickens with the hot water into a smooth paste that gives the fritters their body.
- Eggs
- Proteins set during frying and trapped air lightens the dough, giving a light texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the dough, softening its texture and flavour.
- Lard
- Hot fat conducts heat into the fritters, browning and crisping their outside.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs one at a time. Each egg must be fully beaten into the dough before the next is added. This lets the eggs emulsify evenly and keeps the dough smooth and light rather than loose or split.
“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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