Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Fruit Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make a pie crust and line the bottom of a two-quart tin basin.
Layer the filling
Add a two-inch thick layer of chopped sour apples.
Layer chopped raisins on top of the apples.
Sprinkle sugar, pieces of butter, and spices over the raisins.
Repeat layering with crust and fruit until the basin is full.
Cover with a final layer of crust on top.
Bake and serve
Bake slowly for two hours.
Once done, turn the pie bottom side up on a plate and sprinkle fine sugar over it.
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 + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,070 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,790 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture as they soften during baking.
- Sour apples
- Provide tart acidity and moisture that keeps the filling from tasting flat.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps draw out juices from the fruit.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries the spice flavour and adds moisture.
- Pie crust
- Forms the structure that holds the layered fruit and contains its juices.
The step that matters
Bake slowly for two hours. Low, slow heat lets the apples soften and the juices thicken gradually inside the crust, so the filling cooks through without the crust over-browning or the fruit turning mushy.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, butter, clove, nutmeg):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, butter, 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.
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