Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Quick Doughnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the eggs, sour milk or cream, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix well.
Gradually add flour until the dough is soft but not sticky.
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.
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 + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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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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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness by coating flour and keeping the crumb soft.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and helps it brown during frying.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, binding the dough together.
- Sour milk or cream
- Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk's acidity to produce gas that lightens the dough.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together once rolled and fried.
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 and heavy. If it is too hot, the outside browns before the centre cooks through. Steady heat gives an evenly cooked, light doughnut.
“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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