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 ↓
Apple Sauce Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter in a mixing bowl.
Gradually add the brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the whole egg and egg yolk, mixing well.
Make and bake the cake
Stir in the apple sauce, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda.
Sift in the flour and mix until combined.
Pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes.
Finish
Let cool and ice with boiled icing, adding chopped raisins if desired.
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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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).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets the crumb as the cake bakes.
- Butter
- Creamed with the sugar to trap air and add richness and tender texture.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and its molasses gives a deeper, caramel-like flavour.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure, richness and moisture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic apple sauce to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Apple sauce
- Adds moisture and tenderness, and a fruity flavour.
The step that matters
Creaming the butter and sugar. Beating the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy traps air bubbles that help leaven the cake. Under-creaming leaves a denser crumb, while the baking soda still needs to be evenly mixed in so it rises consistently.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, sauce, cinnamon, clove, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, sauce, cinnamon, clove, flour. 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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