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Jolly Boys

A fried dough made with sour milk, baking soda, molasses, rye and Indian meal.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Jolly Boys

Why it works: Milk and rye work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 918 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Jolly Boys

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Dissolve baking soda in a little sour milk with a pinch of salt.

  2. In a bowl, mix sour milk, dissolved soda, beaten egg, and molasses.

  3. Add rye meal until the mixture is a thin batter consistency.

  4. Gradually stir in Indian meal until the batter is stiff.

Fry and serve

  1. Drop spoonfuls of batter into a kettle of boiling drippings or lard.

  2. Fry until golden brown, flipping when they pop over themselves.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + ryetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Molasses + ryetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,243 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Egg + ryetop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together484 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sour milk
Provides acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lift the batter.
Baking soda
Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas, helping the batter rise and lighten.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure as it cooks.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, color, and a deep flavor to the batter.
Rye meal
Adds flavor and body, thinning the batter to a workable consistency.
Indian meal
Thickens the batter so the spoonfuls hold their shape in the hot fat.

The step that matters

Frying in hot fat. The drippings or lard must be boiling hot before the batter goes in. Hot fat sets the outside quickly, so the fritters brown and do not absorb excess grease or spread into flat, heavy pieces.

“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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