Why it works: Flour and nutmeg 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 ↓
Soft Crullers
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Sift the flour and powdered sugar together.
Heat the water in a saucepan until warm.
Gradually mix the flour into the water.
Melt the butter in a small vessel over low heat.
Stir the melted butter into the flour and water mixture.
Add the powdered sugar and grated nutmeg gradually, mixing well.
Remove the mixture from heat.
Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
Beat the eggs until light and fluffy.
Gradually stir the beaten eggs into the batter.
Continue beating until the batter is thick.
Shape and fry
Flour a surface well.
Lay out the batter in rings.
Heat lard in a pot until hot.
Carefully place the crullers in the lard using a broad knife.
Fry a few at a time until they are a fine brown.
Remove the crullers with a slotted spoon.
Finish and serve
Drain the crullers on paper towels.
Dust the crullers with powdered sugar before serving.
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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure that holds the batter together as it fries.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and their proteins set as the crullers cook.
- Unsalted butter
- Adds fat that gives the crullers a tender, rich texture.
- Lard
- Provides hot fat that cooks the crullers quickly and browns their surface.
- Nutmeg
- Adds a warm, aromatic flavour to the batter.
The step that matters
Fry a few at a time in hot lard. Lard that is too cool lets the dough absorb fat and turn greasy, while crowding the pot drops its temperature. Frying a few at a time keeps the fat hot so the crullers brown and cook through.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, egg):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Jalapenofits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, egg. 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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