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Dessert

Apple Preserve

A sweet preserve made from boiled apples, sugar, spices, and lemon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Apple Preserve

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the apples

  1. Wipe the apples, remove the stalks, and cut out any bruised or decayed spots.

  2. Place the apples in a large pot, filling it three-quarters full, and cover the apples with cold water.

  3. Boil until they become a pulp.

Drain the pulp

  1. Hang a loose flannel bag between two chairs with a pan underneath.

  2. Pour the apple mixture into the bag.

  3. Let it drain until dry, pressing occasionally with a wooden spoon.

  4. Measure the liquid the next day.

Make the preserve

  1. For each quart, add 1 pound of sugar, 12 cloves, ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg, and a small stick of cinnamon tied in muslin.

  2. Add the thinly pared yellow rind and the juice of the lemon to the mixture.

  3. Boil until thick.

  4. Remove the muslin bag.

  5. Pour the preserve into molds or jars.

  6. Let it cool; it will become solid.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  5. Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Small apples
Provide the pectin-rich pulp that thickens the preserve as it cooks down.
Sugar
Sweetens the preserve and, with boiling, helps it set into a thick, firm texture.
Lemon
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and supports pectin set.

The step that matters

Boil until thick. Apple pulp needs enough cooking with sugar for pectin and sugar concentration to set the preserve. Stopping early leaves it runny, while overcooking can scorch the sugar.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon):

  1. Orangefits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Vanillafits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon. 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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