Why it works: Apple and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,918 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
Batter Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the batter according to the batter pudding recipe.
Peel, core, and mince the apples.
If using, add a few currants to the batter.
If using suet, add a small amount of suet to the apples carefully.
Fry and serve
Use a large tablespoonful of batter for each fritter.
Fry the fritters in boiling dripping for 8 to 10 minutes.
Serve the fritters dusted with powdered 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.
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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Apple + curranttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,918 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Apples
- Provide the fruit flavor and moisture that stays tender inside the crisp batter.
- Batter
- Forms the coating that puffs and crisps when fried in hot fat.
- Dripping
- Conducts heat to brown and crisp the outside of each fritter.
The step that matters
Frying in boiling dripping. The fat must be hot enough to set and brown the batter quickly. If it is too cool, the fritters absorb grease and turn heavy and soggy before the centre cooks.
Swap the currant
The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar):
- Pearfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar. 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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