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Swiss Waffles

A batter of flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and thin cream baked in a waffle iron.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Swiss Waffles

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

  2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light.

  3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 3 to 4 minutes after each addition.

  4. Mix in the vanilla extract and cinnamon.

  5. Combine the egg mixture with the sifted dry ingredients and thin cream to form a batter.

Cook and serve

  1. Preheat the waffle iron and grease it well.

  2. Fill the waffle iron two-thirds full, close it, and bake for 4 to 5 minutes on both sides.

  3. Serve hot, dusted with powdered sugar.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 structure and richness, setting the batter as they cook.
All-purpose flour
Forms the main structure of the batter as its proteins set during baking.
Butter
Adds fat for tender texture and rich flavor.
Baking powder
Releases gas that helps the waffles rise and become light.
Thin cream
Adds moisture and richness, loosening the batter.

The step that matters

Beating the eggs into the creamed butter and sugar. Adding eggs one at a time and beating well helps form a stable emulsion, which keeps the batter smooth and light instead of curdled or dense.

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, cream):

  1. Cinnamonthe original
  2. Nutmegfits about as well
  3. Capersfits less well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, cream. 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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