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.
Butter a mold and sprinkle it with bread crumbs.
Layer 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.
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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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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).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites lighten the mixture and help it set into a soft, airy texture.
- Brown bread crumbs
- Provide the bulk and body that hold the mixture together around the cherries.
- Whipped cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the bread custard tender.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and balances the tartness of the cherries.
- Morello cherries
- Provide tart fruit flavour and moisture that bakes into the layers.
The step that matters
Fold in the whipped egg whites gently. Whipped whites hold air that gives the bread lift and a light texture. Vigorous stirring knocks that air out, leaving a dense, heavy result.
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.
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