Why it works: Almond and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Spanish' Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Put the eggs into a large bowl and whisk them until frothy.
Gradually mix in the sugar, flour, and almond paste.
Mix and bake
Add the rose-water, mountain wine, and cinnamon, then mix for 30 minutes.
Butter a baking pan and pour in the mixture.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°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.
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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Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Orange + cinnamontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,437 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whisked to a froth, they trap air and set into the cake's light structure.
- Double-refined sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps give it a fine, tender crumb.
- Dried flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that set the batter into a firm cake.
- Almonds
- Add richness, moisture and body from their oil and fine texture.
- Mountain wine
- Adds moisture and a little acidity and flavour to the batter.
The step that matters
Whisking the eggs until frothy. Eggs whisked to a foam hold air that leavens the batter. Under-whisking leaves a dense cake, so the foam should be thick and stable before the other ingredients are added.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, almond, rose, wine, cinnamon):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, almond, rose, wine, 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.
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