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Strong Cinnamon Cordial

A strong cinnamon-flavored cordial made by infusing spirits with cinnamon oil, sugar, and clarified syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Strong Cinnamon Cordial

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Rub the oil of cinnamon into the sugar until well mixed.

  2. Combine this mixture with the spirits and syrup.

Infuse and finish

  1. Shake well and let it infuse for a few days.

  2. Filter before use.

  3. Add water to reduce strength if desired.

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.

  1. Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Spirit + cinnamontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together150 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Syrup + cinnamontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together990 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Spirit + syruptop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together141 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Spirits
Dissolves and carries the cinnamon flavour, forming the base and strength of the drink.
Hot clarified syrup
Adds sweetness and body, rounding out the sharpness of the spirits.
Oil of cinnamon
Provides the main cinnamon aroma and flavour.
Sugar
Sweetens the cordial and helps spread the oil of cinnamon evenly.

The step that matters

Rub the oil of cinnamon into the sugar. Essential oils do not mix easily with alcohol or syrup. Rubbing the oil into the sugar first spreads it through the granules, so it disperses evenly when combined and the flavour is not patchy or oily.

“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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