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 Sauce Cake
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Stir in the raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Add the apple sauce and mix well.
Dissolve the baking soda in a little hot water and add to the mixture.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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 + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Cinnamon + appletop 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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and adds richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Apple sauce
- Adds moisture and natural sweetness, keeping the cake soft.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic components in the batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Mixing the flour in gently. Once flour is added, gluten begins to form. Overmixing makes the cake tough and dense, so mix only until the flour is just combined.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, raisin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, sauce):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
- Lemonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, raisin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, sauce. 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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