Name: Dried Apple Cake
Ingredients: three cups dried apples; three cups molasses; one pound brown sugar; one pound raisins; one cup sweet milk; one cup butter; one teaspoon ful each of cloves; one tablespoonful soda; three eggs

Why it works: Apple and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,774 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Dried Apple Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Three cups dried apples, three cups molasses, one pound brown sugar, one pound raisins, three eggs, one cup sweet milk, one cup butter, one teaspoon ful each of cloves, cinnamon, one tablespoonful soda. Chop the dried apples fine, let stand over night in water. In the morning put apples into molasses, stand on back of stove for three hours. Then add the other in- gredients.— Contributed, Williams, Ariz.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

600Calories

16 gProtein

26 gFat

83 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7

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

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. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,774 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,070 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Apple + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,104 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, molasses, sugar, raisin, milk, butter, egg):

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Clovethe original
Gingerfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, molasses, sugar, raisin, milk, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.