Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cheese Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a saucepan, combine the grated cheese, milk, and butter over low heat until melted.
Remove from heat and stir in the flour, eggs, and sugar until a smooth paste forms.
Fry and serve
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the cheese mixture into the hot oil and fry until golden brown.
Remove fritters and drain on paper towels.
Serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar and a few drops of orange flower water if desired.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Brie + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together96 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Cheese
- Melts into the batter, giving the fritters rich flavor and a savory, stretchy interior.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the batter together so the fritters keep their shape in oil.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help set the fritters as they cook.
- Milk
- Loosens the cheese mixture into a batter with a soft, moist texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the cheese mixture melt smoothly.
The step that matters
Frying the spoonfuls of batter. The oil must be hot enough to brown the outside quickly. If it is too cool, the fritters absorb oil and turn greasy before they set in the centre.
Swap the orange
The recipe marks orange as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brie, milk, butter, flour, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applefits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against brie, milk, butter, flour, egg, sugar. 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.
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.