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 ↓
Apple Sauce Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream the butter and gradually add the brown sugar.
Beat in the whole egg and egg yolk until light and fluffy.
Mix in the apple sauce, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda sifted with the flour.
Beat all ingredients together until well combined.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Ice with boiled icing and add chopped raisins if desired.
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.
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).
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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and contributes to a soft, deeper-flavored crumb.
- Whole egg and egg yolk
- Bind the batter and add richness and structure to the crumb.
- Apple sauce
- Adds moisture and tenderness to the cake.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with acidic ingredients to help the cake rise.
The step that matters
Beating in the eggs until light and fluffy. Creaming butter and sugar and beating in eggs traps air that helps the cake rise and gives an even crumb. Under-beating leaves a dense texture, while the batter should be mixed only until combined once the flour goes in to avoid toughness.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, sauce, cinnamon, clove, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, sauce, cinnamon, clove, flour. 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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