Why it works: Flour and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,341 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Mató De Pedralbes
Serves 4Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
Stir maize flour into a glass of cold milk.
Put the rest of the milk in a saucepan, add sugar and yolks, and beat together until blended.
Add cinnamon sticks and heat the mixture.
When it begins to boil, add the glass of milk and flour, and mix well.
Cook until thickened.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and take out the cinnamon sticks.
Set and serve
Pour the mixture into four oval molds and refrigerate until cool.
Unmold the custards and serve with jam or rosemary honey.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,779 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Maize flour
- Thickens the milk mixture as it cooks, giving the custard its set body.
- Yolks
- Enrich the custard and help it set into a creamy, firm texture when cooked.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the flavour of the milk and cinnamon.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens into a custard.
The step that matters
Cooking until thickened. Maize flour starch only thickens fully when the mixture is heated and stirred until it simmers. Stopping early leaves a runny custard, while overcooking can make it stiff or grainy.
“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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