Skip to main content
Dessert

Jolly Boys

A fried dough made from rye meal, flour, cornmeal, molasses, and sugar, cooked in lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Jolly Boys

Why it works: Rye and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,320 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Jolly Boys

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix together the rye meal, flour, cornmeal, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder until well combined.

  2. Add the beaten egg, molasses, sugar, and enough cold water to create a thick batter.

Fry

  1. Heat lard in a pan over medium‑high heat.

  2. Drop a heaping tablespoonful of batter into the hot lard and fry until well browned.

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.

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.

  1. Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,320 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Rye + cinnamontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together85 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Cinnamon and sugar 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

Rye meal
Forms the bulk of the batter and gives the dish its hearty, dense texture.
All-purpose flour
Adds gluten-based structure so the batter holds together while frying.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds richness to help hold its shape.
Baking powder
Releases gas as it heats, helping the fritters puff and lighten.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture, and aids browning.
Cornmeal
Adds a slightly gritty texture and helps the exterior crisp.

The step that matters

Frying the batter in hot lard. The lard must be hot enough so the batter sets and browns quickly on the outside. If it is too cool, the fritters absorb grease, turn heavy and may cook through unevenly.

“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 jolly boys recipes

Fritters 4 See all 5 →

You might also like

Molasses CookiesMolasses Cookies96 recipesMolasses CakeMolasses Cake90 recipesCinnamon RollsCinnamon Rolls71 recipesCinnamon CakeCinnamon Cake42 recipes