Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Crullers
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the flour, egg yolks, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and mix well.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold them into the mixture.
Shape and fry
Roll out the dough, cut it into strips, and twist into shape.
Fry in boiling lard until light 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.
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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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together and gives the crullers their body.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the dough a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Creamed with the butter to add sweetness and help create a light, fluffy base.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks add richness and binding, while whipped whites add lift and a lighter crumb.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. Beaten whites trap air that lightens the dough. Vigorous stirring deflates them, so the crullers turn out denser and less light.
“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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