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 ↓
Farmer's Fruit Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apples
Wash and soak the apples overnight in water to cover them.
In the morning, chop the apples finely and add them with the spices to the molasses and the water in which the apples were soaked.
Make the batter
Cream the butter, then add the beaten eggs and the apple and molasses mixture.
Add the soda mixed with the flour to the mixture.
Bake
Pour the batter into a pan and bake for one hour in a moderate oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Apple | 1 medium (182g) | 95 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Cinnamon | 1 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.
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.
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.
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,784 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried apples
- Provide the fruit flavour and moist, chewy body of the cake.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender crumb by coating flour and carrying flavour.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
- Soda
- Reacts with acidic molasses to release gas, helping the cake rise.
The step that matters
Adding the soda mixed with the flour. Baking soda needs an acid, such as the molasses here, to react and leaven the batter. Mixing it well into the flour distributes it evenly so the cake rises uniformly rather than in patches.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cinnamon, egg, clove):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Quincefits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cinnamon, egg, clove. 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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