Name: Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake
Ingredients: ½ cup packed brown sugar; ¼ cup margarine, softened; 2 large egg whites; ½ cup low-fat (1% fat) buttermilk; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp baking soda; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; ¼ tsp salt; 1 medium apple, unpeeled, cored and finely chopped

Why it works: Cinnamon and apple are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,598 recipes. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓

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.

Cinnamon + appletop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,598 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,973 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

All-purpose flour: Provides the main structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
Baking powder: Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to add lift and a tender crumb.
Buttermilk: Adds moisture and acidity that tenderize the crumb and activate the baking soda.
Egg whites: Add protein that helps bind the batter and give it structure.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness, moisture and a caramel-like depth of flavor.

The step that matters

Mixing the flour into the batter. Mixing only until the flour is moistened keeps the batter tender. Overmixing develops gluten, which makes the cake tough and dense. The stiff batter is expected and is not a sign of a mistake.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, buttermilk, flour, cinnamon):

Raisinfits better
Vanillafits better
Blueberryfits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, buttermilk, flour, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake