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Cream Fritters

A sweet fried fritter made from milk, corn starch, flour, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla, and coated in cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Cream Fritters

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the custard

  1. Bring 1 pint of milk to a boil with a 1-inch stick of cinnamon.

  2. In a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of corn starch and 1 tablespoon of flour with 2 or 3 tablespoons of very cold milk to form a smooth paste.

  3. Stir in ½ cup of sugar.

  4. Add the paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

  5. Remove from heat and stir in the beaten yolks of 3 eggs.

  6. Return to heat for 1 minute to set the eggs.

  7. Take out the cinnamon stick.

  8. Stir in a piece of butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.

  9. Pour into a buttered plate to a depth of ½ inch.

  10. Let cool and stiffen.

Coat and fry

  1. Cut into pieces 3 inches long by 2 inches wide.

  2. Roll each piece in sifted cracker crumbs.

  3. Dip each piece in slightly beaten and sweetened eggs.

  4. Roll each piece again in cracker crumbs.

  5. Dip each piece in boiling hot lard until golden brown.

Bake and serve

  1. Remove and place in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 4 to 5 minutes.

  2. Sprinkle with sugar.

  3. Serve immediately.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,943 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Milk
Forms the liquid base that thickens into the custard.
Corn starch
Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the custard a firm, sliceable set.
Egg yolks
Enrich the custard and help it set once gently heated.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and the finished fritters.
Flour
Adds body to the custard alongside the corn starch.
Eggs
Form a binding coat that helps the cracker crumbs adhere and brown.

The step that matters

Stirring the custard as it cooks. Corn starch thickens when heated but can clump or scorch on the bottom if not stirred constantly. Stirring keeps the custard smooth so it sets evenly and can be cut cleanly after cooling.

“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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