Why it works: Almond and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Russian Tea Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Mix eggs, sugar, and sour cream with enough flour to form a dough.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough to ½ inch thick.
Spread a thin layer of butter on the dough, fold the dough over, and roll the dough out again.
Repeat the buttering, folding, and rolling three to four times.
Place the dough in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until firm.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough as thin as possible.
Sprinkle the dough with chopped almonds, sugar, and cinnamon.
Cut the dough into 7-inch strips, roll each strip into a roll, and cut each roll into squares.
Top each square with chopped almonds, sugar, and cinnamon.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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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Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Layered between folded dough sheets to create flaky, tender layers as it melts in the oven.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness and structure to the baked cookie.
- Sour cream
- Adds moisture and tenderness to the dough, keeping the cakes soft.
- Flour
- Forms the dough's structure, providing the body that holds the layers together.
- Chopped almonds
- Add nutty flavor and a pleasant crunch to the outside of the cakes.
The step that matters
Chilling the dough until firm. Cold dough keeps the butter in distinct layers instead of melting into the dough, so the rolled and folded layers stay flaky and easy to handle.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, egg, butter, cream, almond):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Cinnamonthe original
- Capersfits less well
- Tarragonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, egg, butter, cream, almond. 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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