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, peel, and quarter the apples.
Butter a deep earthen baking pan.
In a bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, mace, and molasses.
Assemble and bake
Place the apples in the pan, scatter bits of butter, and stir in the sugar mixture.
Roll out the pastry into a thick round to cover the pan and fit it closely.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until the crust is golden and the apples are tender.
Serve
Remove the crust, break it into small pieces, and mix it with the 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).
-
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
- Apples
- Provide the bulk of the filling and turn tender and juicy as they bake.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the apples caramelize into a syrupy filling.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, deeper flavor, and a darker color to the filling.
- Pastry for crust
- Forms a golden crust that is later broken up and mixed into the apples.
The step that matters
Bake until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Apples must cook long enough to soften fully, while the thick crust needs to brown. Pulling the pan too early leaves firm, underbaked fruit and a pale, doughy crust that does not break up well.
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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