Why it works: Sweet potato and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 539 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
12 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Boil the sweet potato slices in a pan of boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes until just tender, then drain well.
Arrange half the sweet potato slices in the baking dish in an even layer.
Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a small bowl, then sprinkle half over the potatoes.
Dot with half the butter pieces, then top with the remaining sweet potatoes, remaining sugar mixture and remaining butter.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes until the potatoes are heated through and the sugar has melted into a syrup.
Scatter the chopped cashews and miniature marshmallows evenly over the top.
Bake for another 5 to 8 minutes until the marshmallows are puffed and golden, then serve warm.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Sweet potato + cinnamontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together539 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Sweet potato + gingertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together306 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sweet potato, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter):
- Cardamomabout as good a flavor fit
- Cloveabout as good a flavor fit
- Gingerthe original
- Allspiceabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against sweet potato, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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