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 ↓
Brown Betty, or Pan-dowdy
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a pudding dish, layer sliced apples on the bottom.
Assemble
Cover the apples with a layer of grated bread crumbs.
Add small lumps of butter, sugar, and a pinch each of cloves, allspice, and cinnamon.
Repeat the layers until the dish is filled, ending with a thick layer of bread crumbs and lumps of butter.
Make a space on all four sides between the dish and the pudding.
Pour in ½ cup of molasses and ½ cup of cold water.
Smooth over the spaces.
Bake and serve
Place the dish in a pan and add boiling water to the depth of the pudding dish.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until a broom-whisk can be easily inserted into the apples.
Serve hot with cream or enjoy cold.
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).
-
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Provide the main body and tender texture as they soften during baking.
- Grated bread-crumbs
- Absorb the juices and butter, forming a soft layered structure with crisp-edged topping.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, helping the crumbs brown and the dish taste rounded.
- Molasses
- Adds dark sweetness and moisture, soaking into the crumbs and apples as it bakes.
The step that matters
Make a space on all four sides between the dish and the pudding.. Leaving gaps lets the liquid reach the sides and bottom so the crumbs can moisten evenly rather than staying dry at the edges.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, molasses, sugar, clove, allspice, cinnamon):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, molasses, sugar, clove, allspice, 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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