Why it works: Nutmeg and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Doughnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a bowl, mix the egg, sugar, melted lard, sour milk, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
Gradually add the flour until a dough forms.
Roll out the dough and cut into doughnut shapes.
Fry
Fry the doughnuts in hot lard until golden brown.
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.
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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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds richness and structure as it sets.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its structure.
- Sour milk
- Adds moisture and acidity that react with the baking soda to lighten the dough.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity of the sour milk to produce gas that leavens the dough.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps browning during frying.
- Lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and carries heat for frying to a golden crust.
The step that matters
Fry the doughnuts in hot lard until golden brown. If the lard is not hot enough, doughnuts absorb excess oil and turn greasy, while overly hot lard browns the outside before the centre cooks through. Steady heat gives a golden crust and a fully cooked interior.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Jalapenofits less well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, 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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