Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Chocolate Sponge
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Cream the butter.
Add cocoa, yolks of eggs well beaten, sugar mixed with cinnamon and clove, and water.
Beat the whites of eggs.
Add the beaten whites to the first mixture alternately with flour mixed and sifted with baking powder.
Bake
Bake in small tins from fifteen to twenty minutes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
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 + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Cinnamon + flourtop 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).
-
Cocoa + cinnamontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together74 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 emulsify the batter, while beaten whites trap air to lift the cake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the oven, causing the batter to rise and become light.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich, soft crumb.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the risen batter together as it sets.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep the crumb moist and tender.
The step that matters
Folding the beaten whites into the batter. Whites hold air only while they are whipped, so the flour and whites should be added alternately and gently mixed. Overmixing knocks out the air and leaves a dense cake.
Swap the cocoa
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, cinnamon, clove, flour):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Cashew nutfits better
- Cocoathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, cinnamon, clove, flour. 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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