Why it works: Cinnamon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Add cinnamon to the ingredients and mix well.
Shape the mixture into large biscuits and make a deep crease across each biscuit.
Place the biscuits in shallow muffin pans and let them rise until very light.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
For Chelsea Buns, make a sponge as for Buns, then add 1 egg and enough flour to form a stiff dough.
Knead the dough and let it rise until it doubles in size.
Roll the dough to ¼ inch thick and spread with softened butter.
Sprinkle with cinnamon, currants, and brown sugar.
Roll the dough and cut it into 1 inch thick slices.
Place the slices in greased muffin pans with cut surfaces facing up and down.
Let rise until very light, then bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 40 minutes.
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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Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + curranttop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Cinnamon + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,784 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
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Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 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
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cinnamon, butter, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cinnamon, butter, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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