Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓
Spiced Apples
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Boil 2 cups vinegar, 1 cup water and 3 cups sugar with a little whole allspice, cloves and cinnamon bark to a thin syrup; skim well.
Cook and pack the apples
Add tart apples, peeled, halved and cored, or whole and cored, and boil until you can pierce easily with a fork.
Take as many apples as the amount of syrup will probably cover well.
Put the apples in jars and cover with the syrup.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
| Allspice | 1 tsp ground (1.9g) | 5 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
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.
-
Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,548 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and thickens the syrup as it reduces, helping it coat the apples.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the fruit.
- Tart apples (in the method)
- Provide the fruit body; they hold their shape while simmering in the syrup.
The step that matters
Boiling the apples until just pierceable. Boiling too long breaks the apples down into mush, while stopping too early leaves them firm and unevenly cooked. Testing with a fork shows when the pectin-rich flesh has softened enough to absorb syrup without collapsing.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, allspice, cinnamon):
- Clovethe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Gingerfits less well
- Cardamomfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, allspice, cinnamon. 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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