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
Reduce the cider
Fill a very large kettle with cider and boil until reduced to half the original quantity.
Cook the apples
Add as many apples as can be kept moist by the cider and stir frequently.
When the apples are soft, remove them with a skimmer and place them in a tub.
Continue adding and cooking more apples in the same manner.
Have additional boiled cider ready to thin the apple butter if it becomes too thick.
Let the apples cool in a tub covered with cloths overnight.
Finish and store
The next day, boil the apples and cider until the mixture is the consistency of soft marmalade and dark brown.
Twenty minutes before removing from heat, add spices to taste, being careful not to overcook them.
Once cooled, transfer to stone jars and cover tightly.
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.
-
Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,238 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
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
- Apples
- Provide the bulk and pectin that thicken the butter as they break down into pulp.
- Cider
- Cooks the apples while reduced cider concentrates flavor and gives the butter its liquid base.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the butter darken and thicken as it cooks down.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma that complements the apple flavor.
The step that matters
Adding the spices. Warm spices such as cloves and nutmeg turn bitter and harsh when overcooked, and their aroma fades with long heating, so they are added near the end.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg):
- Applethe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cider, sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg. 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.
More apple butter recipes
You might also like
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Apple Cake80 recipes
Apple Meringue75 recipes
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.