Why it works: Flour and butter 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 ↓
Golden-ball Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Put a pint of water, a piece of butter as large as an egg, and a tablespoonful of sugar into a stewpan.
When the mixture boils, stir in one pint of sifted flour, stirring briskly and thoroughly.
Remove from the fire, and when nearly cooled, beat in six eggs, each beaten separately and added one at a time, beating the batter between each.
Fry and serve
Stir the boiling lard around and around so that it whirls when you drop in the fritters, causing them to assume a round shape like balls.
Drop the stiff dough into boiling lard by teaspoonfuls.
Serve with syrup, or melted sugar and butter flavored.
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 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Flour and butter 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
- Forms the starch structure that holds the dough together and sets as the fritters fry.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help the fritters puff and stay light inside.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the dough, giving a tender crumb and savory flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the fritters brown gently in the hot fat.
The step that matters
Dropping the dough into boiling lard. The lard must be hot enough that the outside sets quickly. If it is too cool, the stiff dough absorbs fat and turns greasy and heavy instead of forming crisp, round balls.
“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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