Why it works: Cinnamon and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,950 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Pancakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the milk mixture
Combine milk, cream, cinnamon, and lemon peel in a pot.
Boil gently for 1 hour.
Strain the milk mixture.
Make the batter
Beat the eggs in a bowl for 5-6 minutes.
Add flour to the eggs and mix well.
Add the strained milk to the egg mixture along with sifted sugar and brandy, and mix thoroughly.
Cook and serve
Heat a pan and add a little clarified butter or lard.
Pour a large spoonful of batter into the hot pan.
Turn the batter with a knife to shape.
Dust the pancakes with sifted sugar as they are removed from the pan.
Serve warm with Seville oranges and lemons.
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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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Eggs
- Beaten eggs give the batter structure and help the pancakes set when cooked.
- All-purpose flour
- Flour thickens the batter and gives the pancakes body so they hold their shape.
- Milk
- Milk provides the liquid base that hydrates the flour and forms the batter.
- Cream
- Cream adds fat, making the pancakes richer and more tender.
- Brandy
- Brandy adds aroma and flavor to the batter.
The step that matters
Boil the milk mixture gently for 1 hour. Gentle boiling reduces the liquid and concentrates the flavors of cinnamon and lemon peel. Boiling too hard can scorch the milk and cream on the bottom of the pot, giving an off taste.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, cream, cinnamon, egg, flour, sugar, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, cream, cinnamon, egg, flour, sugar, brandy. 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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