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 ↓
Hasty Doughnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a bowl, mix baking soda, cream of tartar, sugar, and grated nutmeg.
Add milk and stir until combined.
Gradually add flour until a soft dough forms.
Fry and serve
Heat lard in a deep pan.
Drop spoonfuls of dough into the hot lard and fry 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.
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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Cream + sugartop 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
- Baking soda
- Reacts with cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the dough and makes it light.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts with baking soda to create rising, giving the doughnuts a lighter texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the dry ingredients combine into a soft dough.
- Flour
- Provides structure, setting the dough so it holds its shape in the hot fat.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the exterior brown during frying.
The step that matters
Drop spoonfuls of dough into the hot lard and fry until golden brown.. If the lard is not hot enough, the dough absorbs fat and turns greasy and heavy. Frying at a steady high heat sets the outside quickly so the doughnuts stay light inside and brown evenly.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, sugar, milk, flour):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Jalapenofits less well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, sugar, 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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