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Raisin-Apple Sauce for Ham

A sweet sauce made with brown sugar, cornstarch, apple juice, raisins, cinnamon, cloves, and butter, served hot with ham.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Raisin-Apple Sauce for Ham

Time10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine brown sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan.

  2. Stir in apple juice, raisins, cinnamon, and cloves.

  3. Cook and stir for 10 minutes until thickened.

  4. Remove the cloves and discard them.

  5. Add butter or margarine.

  6. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

776Calories
14 gProtein
14 gFat
152 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Apple Juice1 medium (182g)95
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Cornstarch
Thickens the apple juice into a smooth, glossy sauce as it cooks.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a caramel-like depth to the sauce.
Apple juice
Forms the liquid base that the cornstarch thickens and carries the flavor.
Raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness as they soften in the sauce.
Butter or margarine
Adds richness and a rounder mouthfeel to the finished sauce.

The step that matters

Cook and stir until thickened. Cornstarch only thickens fully when the mixture reaches a boil and is stirred constantly, so stopping early leaves the sauce thin and possibly gritty. Stirring also prevents lumps and sticking on the pan bottom.

Swap the clove

The recipe marks clove as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, apple, raisin, cinnamon, butter):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Clovethe original
  3. Cardamomfits about as well
  4. Gingerfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, apple, raisin, cinnamon, 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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