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
Prepare the cider
Boil the cider down to ½ gallon.
Cook the apples
Quarter, peel, core, and cut the apples into small pieces.
Add as many apples to the boiling cider as you can without burning.
When the apples are soft, skim them out and add more until all are cooked.
Mash the cooked apples as soft as possible and return them to the cider.
Simmer gently until the mixture is thick like marmalade, stirring often.
Use an asbestos mat under the kettle during the last hour.
Season and store
For a spicy flavor, add cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice when nearly done.
Transfer to small stone crocks and store in a cool, dry place.
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 + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,331 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cider + appletop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,238 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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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
- Fresh cider
- Forms the liquid base that reduces into a thick, concentrated butter.
- Apples
- Break down into pulp that gives the butter its body and sweetness.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma and spice flavor when added near the end.
- Nutmeg
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor when added near the end.
- Allspice
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor when added near the end.
The step that matters
Simmer gently until thick, stirring often. Sugars in the reduced cider and apple pulp can scorch on the bottom of the pan as the mixture thickens. Frequent stirring and gentle heat prevent burning and give an even, spreadable texture.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice):
- Applethe original
- Orangefits about as well
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cider, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice. 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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