Name: Cinnamon Wafers
Ingredients: 3 cups brown sugar; 1 cup lard; 1 cup boiling water; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon baking soda; Flour to make stiff

Why it works: Cinnamon and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,341 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Cinnamon Wafers

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 dough

In a large bowl, mix brown sugar and lard until well combined.
Dissolve baking soda in boiling water and add to the mixture.
Stir in ground cinnamon and salt.
Gradually add flour until the dough is stiff.

Shape and bake

Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

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

Brown sugar: Adds sweetness, moisture and a caramel flavour that helps the wafers brown.
Lard: Provides fat that tenderises the dough and gives a crisp texture.
Baking soda: Reacts with the sugar and helps the wafers spread and brown.
Flour: Gives structure so the dough can be rolled and holds its cut shapes.