Why it works: Nutmeg and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Doughnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a bowl, mix sugar and sour cream until smooth.
Add baking soda, eggs, sour milk, salt, and nutmeg; stir well.
Gradually add flour until the dough is manageable.
Fry and coat
Heat oil in a deep pan.
Drop spoonfuls of dough into the hot oil and fry until golden brown.
Remove and roll in sugar while hot.
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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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the outside brown while frying.
- Sour cream
- Adds moisture and richness to the dough, giving a tender crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity of the sour milk and sour cream to lift the dough.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness.
- Sour milk
- Provides acidity that activates the baking soda and tenderizes the dough.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together while frying.
The step that matters
Fry until golden brown. Oil that is too cool lets the dough absorb grease and turn heavy, while oil that is too hot browns the outside before the centre cooks. Keeping the oil at a steady hot temperature gives a light, fully cooked doughnut.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, egg, milk, flour):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Jalapenofits less well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, egg, milk, flour. 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.
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