Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Pan-dowdy
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quite moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Core, pare and quarter the apples.
Fill a deep earthen baking pan with the quartered apples.
Butter the baking pan well.
Make the filling
In a bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, and mace, then stir in the molasses until well combined.
Place the apples in the pan.
Scatter bits of butter on top.
Pour the molasses mixture over the apples.
Bake and serve
Roll out the pastry into a thick round to cover the pan and fit it closely.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until the crust is golden and the apples are tender.
Once baked, remove the crust and break it into small pieces.
Mix the pieces with the hot baked apples.
Allow to cool before serving.
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 + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tart, juicy apples
- Provide the main fruit body, which softens into tender pieces during baking.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and deepens the flavor of the filling.
- Molasses
- Adds dark color, sweetness and moisture to the apple filling.
- Pastry for crust
- Covers the pan to trap steam and bake into a golden crust that is later broken up.
- Cinnamon
- Contributes warm, aromatic spice flavor to the apples.
The step that matters
Bake until the apples are tender under the crust. Apples must cook through so their starch softens and their pectin breaks down; underbaking leaves them firm and sour-tasting, while the thick crust slows heat reaching the fruit.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, cinnamon, clove, allspice, molasses, butter):
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, cinnamon, clove, allspice, molasses, butter. 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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