Why it works: Cinnamon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Blackberry Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Bring 2 quarts of water and 1 stick of cinnamon to a boil.
Add the pitted cherries and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
Sweeten with sugar to balance the tartness.
Thicken the mixture with a little cornstarch.
Serve
Cool the soup and serve with zwieback.
For a special touch, top with beaten egg whites mixed with a little sugar.
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 + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cinnamon + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Cinnamon and sugar 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
- Cherries
- Provide the main fruit flavor and tartness that the soup is built around.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tartness of the cherries.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the cooking liquid into a smooth, body-rich soup.
- Beaten egg whites
- Add a light, airy topping when optionally used for a special touch.
The step that matters
Thicken with cornstarch. Cornstarch must be cooked in hot liquid to swell and gelatinize, which thickens the soup. Adding it without enough heat or simmering leaves the soup thin or grainy.
“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 Tincture10 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 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.