Clove + Apple
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 2,774 recipes, and they share 241 flavor molecules: the top 6% of all ingredient pairs.
Do clove and apple go together?
Yes. 2,774 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 241 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 6% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (241 of 311) also occur in apple. Among the shared key aromas are ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine) and estragole (anise, licorice).
What each one brings
clove
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 11% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 6% for apple. It carries 70 molecules apple doesn't have.
apple
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 27% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 17% for clove. It carries 281 molecules clove doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with clove, top 4% with apple.
- Quince: top 2% of pairs with clove, top 1% with apple.
- Pear: top 7% of pairs with clove, top 1% with apple.
- Allspice: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 13% with apple.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with clove and apple
Spread across courses: desserts lead with 94 of the 189 recipes with a course label, then mains (70).
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of clove's flavor molecules (241 of 311) are also found in apple, but apple has 281 that clove lacks. Clove gives you part of apple's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 241 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 70 only in clove and the 281 only in apple.
Clove and apple questions
Do clove and apple go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 2,774 recipes, and they share 241 flavor molecules: the top 6% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do clove and apple taste good together?
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (241 of 311) also occur in apple. Among the shared key aromas are ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine) and estragole (anise, licorice).
What goes with clove and apple?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with clove and top 4% with apple. Quince and pear also fit both.
What can you make with clove and apple?
Spread across courses: desserts lead with 94 of the 189 recipes with a course label, then mains (70). Common dishes include Stewed Apple and Clove, Apple Sauce Cake, Spiced Apples, Apple Bean Cake.
Can I use apple instead of clove?
Only partly. Most of clove's flavor molecules (241 of 311) are also found in apple, but apple has 281 that clove lacks. Clove gives you part of apple's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Apple. https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-apple. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_clove_vs_apple_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Apple},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-apple},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.