Clove + Apricot
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 204 recipes, and they share 229 flavor molecules: the top 11% of all ingredient pairs.
Do clove and apricot go together?
Yes. 204 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 229 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 11% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (229 of 311) also occur in apricot. Among the shared key aromas are ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine) and gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
What each one brings
clove
The woody side. Woody notes make up 5% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 2% for apricot. It carries 82 molecules apricot doesn't have.
apricot
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 23% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 17% for clove. It carries 153 molecules clove doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with clove, top 8% with apricot.
- Cardamom: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 7% with apricot.
- Peach: top 8% of pairs with clove, top 1% with apricot.
- Allspice: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 13% with apricot.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with clove and apricot
Spread across courses: desserts lead with 12 of the 26 recipes with a course label, then mains (11).
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of clove's flavor molecules (229 of 311) are also found in apricot, but apricot has 153 that clove lacks. Clove gives you part of apricot's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 229 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 82 only in clove and the 153 only in apricot.
Clove and apricot questions
Do clove and apricot go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 204 recipes, and they share 229 flavor molecules: the top 11% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do clove and apricot taste good together?
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (229 of 311) also occur in apricot. Among the shared key aromas are ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine) and gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
What goes with clove and apricot?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with clove and top 8% with apricot. Cardamom and peach also fit both.
What can you make with clove and apricot?
Spread across courses: desserts lead with 12 of the 26 recipes with a course label, then mains (11). Common dishes include Apricot Brandy Bread, Apricot Crumble, Apricot Pudding, Apricot and Toasted Pecan Stuffing.
Can I use apricot instead of clove?
Only partly. Most of clove's flavor molecules (229 of 311) are also found in apricot, but apricot has 153 that clove lacks. Clove gives you part of apricot'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 Apricot. https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-apricot. Accessed 2026-11-05.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_clove_vs_apricot_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Apricot},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-apricot},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-05}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.