Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓
Drop Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Warm the molasses.
Dissolve the baking soda in the sour milk.
Add the dissolved mixture to the molasses.
Cream the butter and brown sugar together.
Add the beaten eggs and the molasses mixture.
Sift the spices with the flour.
Stir the sifted mixture into the batter until smooth.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a buttered baking sheet.
Bake in greased gem pans or patty pans.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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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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Flour + cinnamontop 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
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to release gas, helping the cakes rise and lighten.
- Butter
- Creamed with the sugar to trap air and add richness and tenderness.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and moisture as the cakes set.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cakes together as they bake.
- Molasses
- Adds dark sweetness, moisture and a deep flavour that browns the cakes.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tang.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in the sour milk. Baking soda needs an acid to react and produce gas. Dissolving it fully in the acidic sour milk before mixing spreads the leavening evenly, so the cakes rise uniformly instead of unevenly or with bitter pockets.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, butter, milk, molasses, cinnamon, egg):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, butter, milk, molasses, cinnamon, egg. 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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