Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Fried Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
Beat the eggs. Mix in the shortening and sugar.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
Add milk until the dough is workable.
Fry
Shape the dough into cakes.
Fry the cakes in hot lard until golden brown.
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.
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Flour + milktop 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).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour and milk 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough once it is mixed with liquid.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the dough.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that works with baking soda to leaven the cakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness and moisture.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the cakes and keeps them from toughening.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown when fried.
The step that matters
Add milk until the dough is workable. Too little milk leaves the dough stiff and dry, while too much makes it sticky and hard to shape. Adding it gradually lets you reach a soft, workable consistency that holds its shape in the hot fat.
“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.
More fried cakes recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 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.