Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Golden-ball Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine water, butter, and sugar in a saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Stir in sifted flour quickly and thoroughly.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Fry and serve
Drop spoonfuls of the dough into boiling lard.
Stir the lard to help the fritters form round shapes.
Serve with syrup or melted sugar and butter.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Flour
- Forms the starchy structure that holds the fritter together as it sets.
- Eggs
- Add richness and set during frying, giving the fritters a light, puffed structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the dough.
The step that matters
Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Adding eggs gradually lets each one fully emulsify into the dough. Adding them all at once can cause the dough to split or turn loose, so the fritters will not hold their shape or puff properly.
“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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