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Dessert

Raised Doughnuts

A yeast‑raised doughnut made with milk, yeast cake, butter, lard, sugar, eggs, nutmeg, and flour, fried and dusted with powdered sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 9 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 ↓

Raised Doughnuts

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sponge

  1. Scald milk and cool until lukewarm.

  2. Add yeast cake dissolved in water, salt, and flour enough to make a stiff batter.

  3. Let rise overnight.

Make the dough

  1. Add melted shortening, sugar, well-beaten eggs, nutmeg, and enough flour to make a stiff dough.

  2. Let rise again.

  3. If dough is too soft to handle, add more flour.

Shape and fry

  1. Toss dough on a floured board. Pat dough. Roll dough to three-fourths inch thickness.

  2. Shape dough with a cutter. Work between hands until round.

  3. Place dough on a floured board. Let rise one hour. Turn dough. Let rise again.

  4. Fry dough in deep fat. Drain on brown paper. Cool doughnuts. Roll in powdered sugar.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

960Calories
28 gProtein
40 gFat
121 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Cakenot in our table0
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 Fannie Merritt Farmer. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

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
Builds the structure that holds the risen dough and keeps it stiff enough to shape.
Yeast cake
Produces gas as it ferments, making the batter and dough rise and turn light.
Eggs
Add richness and structure, helping the dough hold its shape and become tender.
Butter and lard mixed
Adds fat for tenderness and a richer mouthfeel in the dough.
Light brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the doughnuts brown while frying.
Milk
Adds moisture, richness and softness to the dough.

The step that matters

Frying in deep fat. Oil that is too cool lets doughnuts soak up grease and turn heavy, while oil that is too hot browns the outside before the centre cooks. Steady, moderate heat cooks the dough through and keeps it light.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Jalapenofits less well
  4. Capersfits less well

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