Why it works: Orange and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,437 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Rusk Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the crusts from the stale rusk and slice into three pieces if large, or two if small.
Trim the slices into uniform size and shape.
Pour 1 teaspoon of mingled orange juice and sherry over each slice and let them soak for a few minutes.
Drain the slices and coat them with a thin layer of Fritter Batter (No. 2).
Fry the coated slices in hot cottolene until golden brown, then drain well.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon before serving, with or without sauce.
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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Orange + cinnamontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,437 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Orange + sherrytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together823 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Sherry + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together649 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sherry, sugar, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applefits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sherry, sugar, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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