Why it works: Nutmeg and flour 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, mix sugar, sour cream, thick sour milk, eggs, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
Gradually add flour until the mixture is soft.
Fry
Heat oil in a frying pan.
Shape the dough into rings and fry, turning often 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.
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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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).
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 structure and richness to the doughnuts.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour dairy to produce gas that lightens the dough.
- Baking powder
- Adds extra lift so the doughnuts rise and puff while frying.
- Sour cream
- Adds moisture, tenderness and a tangy flavour to the dough.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and helps the surface brown during frying.
The step that matters
Turning often until golden brown. Frying at a steady heat and turning the rings often lets the outside brown evenly while the centre cooks through. Too little turning can scorch one side and leave the middle doughy.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, milk, egg, flour):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Jalapenofits less well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, milk, egg, 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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