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 ↓
Apple-Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a gentle oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a dish, combine the apples, sugar, lemon peel, cloves, cinnamon, and water.
If the apples are not juicy, add lemon juice or wine.
Bake
Cover the mixture with the pie crust.
Bake in the preheated oven until the crust is golden and the apples are tender.
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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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + clovetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Provide the bulk of the filling and, as they cook, turn tender and release juice.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps draw moisture out of the apples to form a syrup.
- Pie crust
- Encloses the filling and browns in the oven to form the golden top.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the apple flavor; used only if the apples are not juicy.
The step that matters
Bake until the apples are tender. Apples must cook through, or the filling stays firm and crunchy under a browned crust. Pulling the pie too early leaves the apples underdone, while the crust can brown before the filling softens.
Swap the lemon
The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, clove, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Quincefits better
- Pearfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, clove, 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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