Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Fritters, &C
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the fritter
Heat fresh butter in a frying pan until it froths.
Pour in 1 breakfast cupful of batter and shake the pan gently.
Loosen the edges with a knife, shake the pan, and flip the fritter.
Cook the other side until golden brown.
Serve
Transfer to a hot dish and sprinkle with sifted sugar.
Serve immediately.
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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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh butter
- Fat that conducts heat into the batter and helps the surface brown and taste rich.
- Batter
- Sets as it cooks, forming the body and structure of the fritter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the finished fritter.
The step that matters
Loosen the edges and flip the fritter. The fritter must set enough to release from the pan. Flipping too early tears the surface and the batter sticks. Wait until the edges pull away cleanly, then turn it so both sides brown evenly.
“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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