Why it works: Sugar and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Moravian Sugar Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the dough
Mix sugar and mashed potatoes in a bowl.
Add liquid yeast.
Let rise in a warm place until bedtime.
Add eggs, shortening, and salt.
Mix until stiff.
Shape and top
Spread the dough in pans to about 1 inch thick.
Let rise until very light.
Make holes in the top with your finger.
Fill the holes with butter.
Top with sugar and cinnamon.
Bake and make love knots
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
For love knots: take a small piece of dough and roll it into a 10-inch long piece.
Tie into knots.
Let rise until very light.
Bake.
Brush with butter.
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.
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 + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Potato + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,012 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,784 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Eggs
- Add richness and structure, helping bind the dough and give it a tender crumb.
- Mashed potatoes
- Add moisture and softness, keeping the dough tender and slow to dry out.
- Yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become light.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps the cakes soft.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps feed the yeast while browning the top.
The step that matters
Let rise until very light. The dough needs enough fermentation to trap gas and become airy. Underproofed dough bakes dense, while the yeast must stay active in a warm spot to rise fully.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, butter, cinnamon):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Chivefits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, butter, cinnamon. 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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