Why it works: Allspice and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Spanish Buns
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the milk, allspice, cinnamon, and 3 egg yolks to the batter. Mix well.
Stir in the baking powder and enough flour to form a stiff batter.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
Bake and top
Spoon the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Mix the beaten egg white with a little sugar. Spread the mixture over the top.
Return to the oven for a few minutes with the door open to dry the topping.
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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Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 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).
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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
- Whites beaten to stiff peaks trap air, lightening the batter and giving it lift; yolks add richness.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it adds fat that gives a tender, rich crumb.
- Sugar
- Creamed with butter and sweetens the buns, also helping the top brown.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the buns rise in the oven.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the batter as it bakes.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps form a smooth batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Beaten whites hold air that makes the batter light. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, so fold gently with a spatula to keep the buns airy.
Swap the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, cinnamon, egg, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicethe original
- Clovefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, cinnamon, egg, 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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