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 ↓
Brown Betty, or Pan-dowdie
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 the dish
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a pudding dish, layer sliced apples on the bottom.
Cover the apples with a layer of grated bread crumbs, thick enough to cover them.
Add small lumps of butter, sugar, and a pinch each of cloves, allspice, and cinnamon.
Repeat the layers of apples and bread crumbs until the dish is filled, ending with a thick layer of bread crumbs and lumps of butter.
Add liquid and bake
Make a space on all four sides between the dish and the pudding.
Pour in ½ cup of molasses and ½ cup of cold water into the spaces.
Smooth over the top and place the dish in a pan filled with boiling water to a depth of 1 inch.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a broom whisk can be easily inserted into the apples.
Serve hot with cream or enjoy cold.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + allspicetop 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).
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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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Provide the fruit base that softens and becomes tender during baking.
- Grated bread crumbs
- Form the layers that soak up the molasses and butter and bake into a soft, moist structure.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that helps the crumbs brown and gives flavour to the layers.
- Molasses
- Adds dark sweetness and flavour while moistening the crumbs as they bake.
The step that matters
Make a space on all four sides between the dish and the pudding.. Pouring the liquid into the gaps lets it soak down through the crumbs rather than sitting on top, so the layers stay moist while the surface can brown.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, molasses, sugar, clove, allspice, cinnamon):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, molasses, sugar, clove, 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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