Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Fried Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a bowl, combine sugar, eggs, melted lard, and baking powder.
Mix in enough flour to create a soft dough that can be rolled out.
Shape and fry
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Fry in hot oil 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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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 richness and structure as they set in the heat.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that makes the cakes rise and turn light and airy when fried.
- Melted lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and moisture, helping the dough stay soft and tender.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown to a golden color.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and protein that give the dough body so it can be rolled out.
The step that matters
Fry in hot oil until golden brown. If the oil is not hot enough, the cakes absorb excess oil and turn greasy and heavy. If it is too hot, the outside browns before the inside cooks through. Steady, moderate heat gives a cooked interior with a golden crust.
“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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