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 ↓
Dagmar Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Make a batter with flour, salt, and beaten eggs until creamy.
Add milk, powdered sugar, lemon peel, and cinnamon; beat again.
Stir in candied citron pieces.
Cook and cut
Melt butter in a pan.
Pour the batter into the pan.
Cook slowly until solid.
Remove from the pan.
Cut into finger-length strips with slits at each end.
Fry and serve
Fry the strips in boiling lard or butter until golden.
Serve on a napkin.
Dust with sifted 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.
-
Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the batter so it sets solid when cooked.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it set firm as it cooks.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the fritters brown.
- Candied citron
- Adds sweet, aromatic pieces that flavour the batter.
The step that matters
Cook slowly until solid. Cooking the batter slowly lets the eggs and flour set through without scorching the surface. Too much heat browns the outside before the centre firms, so the pieces break when cut and fried.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, milk, sugar, cinnamon, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, milk, sugar, cinnamon, butter. 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.
You might also like
The 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.
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes