Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Doughnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until well combined, then add the milk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, beating well, then add more flour as needed to form a soft dough.
Roll out the dough to ½ inch thick and cut into rings or small balls.
Fry and finish
Heat oil in a deep pot until smoking hot.
Fry the doughnuts in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pot.
Drain on unglazed paper and roll in powdered 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.
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.
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour 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
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness and structure as they set in the hot oil.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the dough so it holds its shape when fried.
- Royal baking powder
- Releases gas that lightens the dough so the doughnuts puff and stay tender.
- Milk
- Adds moisture to the dough and helps make it soft and tender.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps browning on the fried surface.
The step that matters
Frying in batches at smoking-hot oil. Oil that is not hot enough soaks into the dough and makes greasy doughnuts, while crowding the pot drops the oil temperature. Keeping the oil hot and the batches small lets the outside seal and cook through evenly.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Jalapenofits less well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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