Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Apple Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cider
If using fresh cider, boil it down in a porcelain kettle to half the quantity.
Cook the apples
Quarter the apples, remove the skins and cores, and cut them into small pieces.
Cook the apples in the boiling cider, adding as many as the cider will cover.
Once the apples are soft, skim them out and add more until all are cooked.
Mash the cooked apples as soft as possible and return them to the cider.
Thicken and spice
Cook very slowly until thick like marmalade, stirring often to prevent burning.
For a spicy flavor, add cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice when the sauce is nearly done.
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 + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,331 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cider + appletop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,238 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Boiled cider
- Concentrated apple liquid that provides the base flavor and sweetness, and lets the apples cook down.
- Tart, juicy apples
- Supply the bulk of the butter; their pectin and acidity help it set thick and add tang.
The step that matters
Slow thickening with frequent stirring. Apple sugars scorch easily on the bottom of a pot over long cooking. Slow heat and regular stirring let water evaporate gradually, so the butter thickens evenly without burning.
“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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