Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Maine Doughnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Beat the egg and egg yolk in a bowl.
Gradually add the sugar, then the milk and the sifted dry ingredients.
Mix thoroughly and add enough extra flour to form a soft dough.
Fry and finish
Cut off a small piece of dough, pat and roll it to about ¼ inch thickness.
Cut with a ring cutter and drop into hot deep fat.
Slide the doughnuts down the side of the kettle into the fat.
Cook only three at a time, turning frequently.
Lift from the fat and drain on soft paper.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
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.
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness and structure to the crumb.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the dough so the doughnuts rise and turn light.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the soft dough together while frying.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the doughnuts brown in the hot fat.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the flour forms a soft, tender dough.
The step that matters
Cook only three at a time, turning frequently.. Adding too many doughnuts lowers the fat temperature, so they absorb oil and cook unevenly. Turning them often helps them cook through and brown evenly.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.