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 ↓
Apple Dumpling
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the crust
Make a good suet crust.
Grease a bowl and line it with the suet crust.
Fill and seal
Peel and slice enough apples to fill the bowl.
Add a few cloves and sugar to taste.
Cover the apples with the remaining suet crust, cutting it to fit the bowl.
Wet the edges with cold water and pinch the sides together.
Steam
Cover with buttered paper and steam for 2 to 2½ hours, depending on size.
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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Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Clove + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together17,182 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Suet crust
- Its fat keeps the crust tender and rich as it steams, and it encloses the filling.
- Apples
- They soften and release moisture as they cook, filling the pudding with tender fruit.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the tartness of the apples.
- Cloves
- Add a warm, spiced aroma to the apple filling.
The step that matters
Sealing the edges. Wetting the edges with cold water helps the crust bond to itself. A weak seal can let juices escape and filling leak out during the long steam.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Gingerfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Nutmegfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar. 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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