Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg 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
Cream together the sugar and butter in a bowl.
Add the milk and eggs, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, sift the baking powder with the flour.
Gradually work the flour mixture into the wet ingredients to form a soft dough.
Roll the dough into a thick sheet and cut into rings or strips.
Twist the strips into fun shapes if desired.
Fry and finish
Heat the Cottolene in a deep pan and fry the doughnuts until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels and dust with additional 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.
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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 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
- Creams with the sugar to add richness and tenderness to the dough.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during frying so the doughnuts rise and become light.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the dough once worked into the wet ingredients.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the flour forms a soft, workable dough.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and helps browning in the hot oil.
The step that matters
Fry until golden brown. Frying oil must be hot enough to cook the dough quickly; if it is too cool, doughnuts absorb excess oil and turn greasy, while if too hot the outside browns before the centre cooks.
“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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