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 ↓
Almond Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Cream the butter and brown sugar together.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Melt the chocolate and add it to the mixture.
Stir in the baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, chopped almonds, and flour until well combined.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into two coffee cake tins.
Bake until golden brown.
Let cool, then frost with white boiled frosting.
Cut into pieces about one inch wide and three inches long.
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.
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Chocolate + almondtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,733 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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 and richness as they set in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and creaming it with sugar traps air for a tender crumb.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cookies brown and taste caramel-like.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cookies rise and become lighter.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the batter together as it bakes.
- Almonds
- Add texture and a nutty flavour that complements the spices and chocolate.
The step that matters
Cream the butter and brown sugar together. Beating butter and sugar traps air that gives the bake lift and a tender crumb. If the butter is too cold or too soft, the mixture will not trap air well and the texture will suffer.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, chocolate, cinnamon, almond, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits about as well
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, chocolate, cinnamon, almond, 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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