Why it works: Cinnamon and dates work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 283 recipes. Both carry anethole, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓
Date Tort
Ingredients
Directions
Combine
Add 1 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 tablespoons chocolate, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 10 cents' worth of dates cut, and yolks of 6 eggs.
Finish and bake
Beat the whites of the eggs slightly.
Add the beaten whites last.
Bake in a spring form.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Date | 1 date (24g) medjool | 66 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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 + datestop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together283 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Cinnamon + chocolatetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,808 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Chocolate + datestop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together86 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
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and moisture, while beaten whites trap air that helps the cake rise and set.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise and become light.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown and stay moist.
- Dates
- Add sweetness and moisture, along with a chewy texture.
- Chocolate
- Adds deep flavor and a little richness to the batter.
The step that matters
Add the beaten whites last. Beaten egg whites hold air bubbles that give the cake its lift. Folding them in gently, rather than stirring hard, keeps those bubbles from collapsing, so the cake bakes up lighter.
Swap the dates
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, chocolate, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Datesthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cinnamon, chocolate, egg. 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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