Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Bell Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Sift 1 pint of flour.
Pour boiling-hot water on it until it cooks enough to have the consistency of a stiff batter.
Let it get perfectly cold.
Take 5 eggs, 1 tablespoonful of butter, and put them in the batter and beat all up till it is as light as muffins.
Grate in a little nutmeg.
Fry and serve
Boil the batter in hot lard.
Make wine sauce to serve with them.
Make the yeast batter
With yeast make a thick batter overnight.
In the morning stir in 1 pint of flour, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoonful of butter, a little nutmeg and salt; let it rise again.
Fry just before breakfast.
Finish and fry
Five yolks of eggs, beaten light, and a little finely chopped celery.
Beat the whites to a stiff froth.
Just before breakfast put in 1/4 cup of milk, then pour the whites in with the yolks.
Put in a buttered frying-pan and fry.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
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 base structure of the batter.
- Eggs
- Add structure and lightness when beaten into the batter.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness to the batter.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the batter stays loose and smooth.
The step that matters
Beat the whites to a stiff froth and fold them into the yolks. Whipped egg whites trap air that gives the fritters lightness when they cook. If the whites are under-beaten they add little lift, and if they are over-beaten or deflated while folding, the air escapes and the fritters turn out dense.
“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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