Why it works: Lemon and cinnamon 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 ↓
Cherry Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
In a large bowl, mix the bread crumbs, sugar, egg yolks, whipped cream, lemon rind, cinnamon, and salt.
Gently fold in the whipped egg whites and set aside.
Butter a mold and sprinkle with brown bread crumbs.
Assemble and bake
Spread a spoonful of the mixture at the bottom, layer with cherries (stones left in), and repeat until the mold is filled.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until set.
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.
-
Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Bread + cinnamontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,705 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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 bread crumbs
- Form the body of the pudding and soak up moisture from the cream and eggs.
- Eggs
- Set the mixture when baked and add richness and structure.
- Whipped cream
- Adds moisture and a light, tender texture to the mixture.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and dissolves easily into the mixture.
- Morello cherries
- Provide tart fruit flavour and juiciness throughout the bake.
The step that matters
Fold in the whipped egg whites gently. Whipped egg whites trap air that helps the mixture rise and stay light. Stirring vigorously deflates the foam, leaving a dense result once baked.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sugar, egg, cream, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, egg, cream, 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.
More cherry bread recipes
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Bread Pudding153 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 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.