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Fried Cakes

A batter of sugar, sour milk, eggs, lard, baking soda, and cream of tartar fried into golden cakes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Fried Cakes

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Fried Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, mix the sugar and sour milk.

  2. Add the eggs and lard, and stir until well combined.

  3. In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda and cream of tartar.

  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until smooth.

Fry

  1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.

  2. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and milk 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

Sour milk
Reacts with the baking soda to lighten the batter and adds tang.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk to release gas that makes the cakes rise.
Cream of tartar
Adds acid that supports the leavening reaction and helps keep the batter stable.
Eggs
Provide structure and richness, helping the cakes hold together when fried.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown in the hot oil.
Lard
Adds fat that gives the cakes a tender texture and rich flavor.

The step that matters

Fry over medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Frying in oil that is too hot browns the outside before the centre cooks through, while oil that is too cool lets the batter soak up grease and turn heavy. Medium heat lets the interior set as the surface browns.

“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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