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 ↓
Mock Macaroons
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, stir together the eggs and sugar.
Place the mixture in a pan of hot water on the stove until it steams when stirred.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Add cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nuts, flour, and baking powder to the mixture.
Shape and bake
Drop spoonfuls onto a baking pan, leaving space between them as they will spread while baking.
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.
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 + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
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).
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
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during cooking.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps give the cookies their tender texture.
- Chopped nuts
- Add body and texture to the cookies.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cookies together.
- Baking powder
- Produces gas that lifts the batter so the cookies rise.
The step that matters
Leave space between spoonfuls. The dough spreads as it bakes, so spoonfuls placed too close together can merge into one mass and bake unevenly. Spacing lets each cookie spread and set on its own.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cinnamon, clove, ginger, flour):
- Almondfits better
- Cashew nutfits better
- Chickpeafits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cinnamon, clove, ginger, 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.
More macaroons recipes
You might also like
Ginger Cookies213 recipes
Ginger Cake93 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 recipes
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.