Why it works: Flour and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,341 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
New England Doughnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine lukewarm milk, yeast, melted lard, salt, and enough flour to make a stiff batter in a bowl.
Let the mixture rise until about 2 p.m.
Finish and rest
Before bedtime, add the yolks of 4 eggs and the beaten egg whites.
Stir in 2 cups of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and mix until soft.
Roll out the dough.
Let the dough stand for one hour before frying.
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.
-
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the stiff dough together.
- Milk
- Moistens the flour so the dough can form and develop.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the dough and gives a richer texture.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and color, while whites add lightness and air.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the fried surface brown.
The step that matters
Adding the stiff egg whites. Beaten egg whites hold air that makes the dough light. Folding them in gently, rather than stirring hard, keeps that air from being pressed out.
“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
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes
Cinnamon Cake42 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 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.