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 ↓
Spanish Bun
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.
Make the cake
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, butter, milk, eggs, cinnamon, cloves, and baking powder until well combined.
Pour the batter into a long tin pan and bake until golden brown.
Make the icing
For the icing, combine 1 cup of sugar and 6 tablespoons of water in a saucepan.
Boil the sugar and water mixture until it threads from a spoon.
Remove from heat and pour over the well-beaten egg whites, then beat until combined.
When the icing is nearly cold, stir in 1 tablespoon of cinnamon.
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.
-
Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
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
- Structure and richness; the batter sets around them as it bakes.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the buns together as they bake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise and turn light.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetness, and browning in the crust as the cake bakes.
- Unsalted butter
- Fat that adds tenderness and a rich flavor to the crumb.
The step that matters
Boiling the sugar and water to the threading stage. Sugar syrup that is boiled too little stays runny, and boiled too long turns grainy or hard. Reaching the right stage controls how the icing sets when beaten into the egg whites.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, milk, egg, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits about as well
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, milk, egg, cinnamon. 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.
You might also like
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes
Clove Cake53 recipes
Cinnamon Cake42 recipes
White Cake431 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.