Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Fried Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Mix sugar, eggs, shortening, baking soda, and sour milk in a bowl until well combined.
Cut the mixture into rings.
Fry and finish
Heat lard in a deep pan until very hot.
Add a peeled potato to the pan to prevent burning.
Drop the cake rings into the hot lard.
The rings will rise to the surface when cooked.
Fry until dark brown.
Remove the rings and sprinkle them with sugar.
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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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to release gas, helping the rings rise and lighten.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture to the dough.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add moisture and structure to the cooked rings.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps the texture soft.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and browns in the hot fat for a darker crust.
The step that matters
Heat the lard until very hot. Hot fat sets the outside of the dough quickly, so the rings absorb less oil and fry up crisp rather than greasy. Lard that is too cool lets the dough soak up fat and cook unevenly.
“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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