Name: Fat-free Apple Spice Cake
Ingredients: 2 cups white unbleached all purpose flour; 1 1/4 cups sugar; 1/4 cup fruit puree oil, butter, margaring sub; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground cloves; 1 tsp nutmeg; 6 egg whites; 1/2 cup boiling water; 2 cups apples, finely chopped; 1 tsp vanilla; 2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg 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 ↓

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.

Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together11,917 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,686 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cinnamon + appletop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,598 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Clove + appletop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

All purpose flour: Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins and starch set during baking.
Egg whites: Provide structure and lift, helping the cake set and hold its airy crumb.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic components to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Apples: Add moisture and tender texture, along with fruity sweetness and flavor.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps keep it moist and tender while browning the crust.

The step that matters

Adding the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mixing for the full two minutes develops gluten and can toughen the cake, while the baking soda needs to be evenly distributed to rise properly. Mix only until the batter is smooth.

Swap the apple

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

Raisinfits better
Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, egg. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cloves	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Fruit	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Fat-free Apple Spice Cake