Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Fried Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine sugar, melted lard, eggs, sweet milk, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat until well mixed.
Gradually add flour until the dough is firm enough to roll out.
Shape and fry
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Fry in hot lard until light yellow, then sprinkle with sugar.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness and structure as they set in the frying fat.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the cream of tartar to produce gas that lightens the dough.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the dough so it reacts with the baking soda to help the cakes rise.
- Lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and is the hot frying medium that browns the cakes.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that lets the dough be rolled out and cut into shapes.
The step that matters
Frying in hot lard until light yellow. If the lard is not hot enough, the cakes absorb excess fat and turn greasy. If it is too hot, the outside browns before the inside cooks through. Steady heat gives an even, light golden color.
“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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