Why it works: Butter and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,784 recipes. Both carry anethole, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓
Bran Cakes for Diabetics
Ingredients
Directions
Tie the bran in cheesecloth and wash thoroughly under running water until it runs clear, kneading frequently.
Wring the bran dry.
In a bowl, mix the bran, well-beaten whole eggs, melted butter, and salt.
Beat the egg white until very stiff and gently fold it into the mixture.
Shape the mixture into three dozen small cakes using a knife and tablespoon.
If desired, add cinnamon or other flavoring.
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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Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,784 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + cinnamontop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Egg and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,058 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
Swap the cinnamon
The recipe marks cinnamon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg):
- Nutmegfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Capersfits better
- Cinnamonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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