Why it works: Flour and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,341 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Delicious Small Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a cool oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream butter, lard, and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add egg yolks and mix well.
Gradually add flour, mixing until combined.
Make the meringue
In a saucepan, combine sugar and water; boil slowly until it begins to rope.
Beat egg whites to a strong froth.
Pour the boiling sugar gradually into the egg whites while beating until it thickens and cools slightly.
Stir in powdered cinnamon.
Bake
Bake the small cakes using a stiff spoon.
Optionally, add unbeaten egg whites with more sugar to make additional small cakes.
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.
-
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,784 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air, giving the cakes a light, tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, fat and emulsifying power, helping the batter hold together smoothly.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and structure that sets the cakes as they bake.
- Egg whites
- Beaten to a froth, they add lift and a light, airy texture to the cakes.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the batter and, boiled to a rope, stabilizes the meringue.
- Powdered cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma and flavor to the meringue mixture.
The step that matters
Pouring the boiling sugar into the egg whites. Pour the syrup slowly while beating. Adding it too fast can deflate the whites, and syrup that is not boiled far enough will not thicken the meringue properly.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, butter, sugar):
- Cinnamonthe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Jalapenofits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, butter, sugar. 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.
More small cakes recipes
You might also like
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes
Cinnamon Cake42 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.