Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Cinderellas or German Puffs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Sift eight tablespoonfuls of the finest flour.
Cut up the butter and add it to a quart of rich milk, and set it on the stove, or near the fire, until it has melted.
Beat eight eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the milk and butter, alternately with the flour.
Add a powdered nutmeg, and a teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon.
Mix the whole very well to a fine smooth batter, in which there must be no lumps.
Bake and serve
Butter some large common tea-cups, and divide the mixture among them till they are half full or a little more.
Set them immediately in a quick oven, and bake them about a quarter of an hour.
When done, turn them out into a dish and grate white sugar over them.
Serve them up hot, with a sauce of sweetened cream flavoured with wine and nutmeg; or you may eat them with molasses and butter; or with sugar and wine.
Send them round whole, for they will fall almost as soon as cut.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| 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.
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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Provide structure and lift as they set, giving the puffs their airy body.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter and gives the puffs structure as they bake.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the batter and adds moisture and richness.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture in the baked puffs.
The step that matters
Keep the batter smooth and lump-free before baking. Lumps of flour stay dry and bake unevenly, while a well-mixed batter sets into a uniform, even-textured puff.
“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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