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 ↓
Spice Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
In a large saucepan, beat the egg yolks and gradually add the sugar until light and thick.
Place the saucepan in a pot of boiling water on the stove and cook until thick.
Finish the batter
Once cool, stir in the cinnamon, cloves, chopped nuts, and sifted flour.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + nutstop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together487 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Flour + nutstop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,180 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken as they cook gently and add richness and structure to the batter.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and helps the yolks whip to a light, thick texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides structure once it is stirred in, holding the cake together as it sets.
- Ground cinnamon
- Adds warm, sweet aroma and flavour that defines the spice character of the cake.
- Chopped nuts
- Add crunch and texture contrast to the soft, tender crumb.
The step that matters
Cooking the yolk mixture until thick. Egg yolks thicken over gentle, indirect heat as their proteins set. Overheating them can curdle or scramble the mixture, so cook slowly and stir until it coats a spoon.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, cinnamon, clove):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Chickpeafits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, cinnamon, clove. 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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