Clove + Sugar
A cook's pairing more than a chemical one: 17,182 recipes use both, though they share little aroma. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs.
Do clove and sugar go together?
Yes, in practice. 17,182 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 40 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 26% of every ingredient pair we score.
What they have in common
More than half of sugar's flavor molecules (40 of 65) also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent) and 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet). So the pairing rests more on how cooks use them than on shared aroma.
What each one brings
clove
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 11% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 0% for sugar. It carries 271 molecules sugar doesn't have.
sugar
The tartness. Sour notes make up 24% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for clove. It carries 25 molecules clove doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with clove, top 10% with sugar.
- Allspice: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 24% with sugar.
- Nutmeg: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 20% with sugar.
- Cardamom: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 19% with sugar.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with clove and sugar
Spread across courses: desserts lead with 624 of the 1,260 recipes with a course label, then mains (391) (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both).
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: clove has 271 molecules sugar doesn't, and sugar has 25 that clove doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 40 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 271 only in clove and the 25 only in sugar.
Clove and sugar questions
Do clove and sugar go together?
A cook's pairing more than a chemical one: 17,182 recipes use both, though they share little aroma. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs.
What do clove and sugar have in common?
More than half of sugar's flavor molecules (40 of 65) also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent) and 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet). So the pairing rests more on how cooks use them than on shared aroma.
What goes with clove and sugar?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with clove and top 10% with sugar. Allspice and nutmeg also fit both.
What can you make with clove and sugar?
Spread across courses: desserts lead with 624 of the 1,260 recipes with a course label, then mains (391) (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both). Common dishes include Basic Sugar-Free Vegetarian Mincemeat, Brown Sugar Mulling Spice Mix, Clove Snaps, Kentucky Sugar-Cured Rice.
Can I use sugar instead of clove?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: clove has 271 molecules sugar doesn't, and sugar has 25 that clove doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. 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 Sugar. https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-sugar. Accessed 2026-11-03.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_clove_vs_sugar_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Sugar},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-sugar},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.