Why it works: Sugar and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,147 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Plain Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Heat the milk in a saucepan.
Add the grated bread and stir until smooth.
Let the mixture cool, then mix in the egg yolks and sugar.
Fry and serve
Heat lard in a frying pan over medium heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot lard and fry until golden brown.
Serve with sweet sauce and preserves.
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.
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Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,147 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + saucetop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Penny loaf
- Bread soaked in milk forms the body of the fritters.
- Egg yolks
- Egg yolks bind the mixture and add richness and structure when fried.
- Sugar
- Sugar adds sweetness and helps the fritters brown in the hot lard.
- Milk
- Milk softens the grated bread and gives the batter its moisture.
The step that matters
Frying in hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the fritters absorb grease and turn heavy and soggy instead of crisp and golden. Medium heat and cooking until golden brown help the outside set quickly while the inside cooks through.
“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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