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Brandied Apple Cake with Figs and Walnuts

Loaded with apple chunks, dried fruit and nuts, here is a not-overly-sweet cake that can be enjoyed for breakfast, afternoon tea or as a casual dessert when topped with whipped cream. Beautiful in its simplicity, this moist cake will disappear as quickly as you can make it.

By williamssonoma · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Cardamom and walnut share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 90 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By williamssonoma. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Cardamom + walnuttop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together90 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,027 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Cinnamon + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,299 recipes

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

  4. Cardamom + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Fig + appletop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together237 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the cardamom

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fig, brandy, butter, flour, cinnamon, clove, sugar):

  1. Nutmegbetter flavor fit
  2. Cardamomthe original
  3. Allspiceabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Gingerabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against fig, brandy, butter, flour, cinnamon, clove, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).