Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fried Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, eggs, sugar, sweet milk, baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
Heat the mixture until warm, then add the hot lard.
Mix until soft and well combined.
Fry
Shape the dough and fry in hot lard 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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness to the cakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the dough so the cakes rise and become light.
- Lard
- Adds fat that gives the cakes tenderness and helps them brown in the frying.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown as they fry.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the dough together.
The step that matters
Frying in hot lard until golden brown. If the lard is not hot enough, the cakes absorb excess fat and turn greasy, while overly hot fat browns the outside before the centre cooks through. Steady, hot fat gives an even golden crust and a cooked interior.
“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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