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Dessert

Cocoanut and Almond Cake

A cake made with cocoanut, almonds, powdered sugar, butter, flour, egg whites, milk, lemon, nutmeg, rose‑water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Cocoanut and Almond Cake

Why it works: Nutmeg and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,115 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Cocoanut and Almond 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.

Prepare the batter

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Cream the butter and powdered sugar together.

  3. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon peel, and nutmeg.

  4. Mix in the milk, egg whites, and flour alternately.

  5. Gently fold in the grated cocoanut.

  6. Divide the batter into four jelly‑cake tins.

Bake and make the almond filling

  1. Bake the cakes until golden.

  2. Blanch the almonds.

  3. Let the blanched almonds cool and dry.

  4. Pound the almonds in a mortar, adding rose‑water gradually.

  5. Reserve about two dozen almonds to shred for the top.

Assemble and finish

  1. Mix the almond paste into the filling after the cakes have cooled.

  2. Spread the filling between the cooled cakes, making the top layer thicker.

  3. Once the top layer has stiffened, press the shredded almonds onto it.

  4. Place the cake in the oven to harden, being careful not to scorch it.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Nutmeg + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Creams with the sugar to give the batter structure and a tender, rich crumb.
Egg whites
Whisked stiff to lighten the batter and help the cakes rise and set.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cakes together once baked.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps the butter cream to a smooth, light texture.
Sweet almonds
Pounded into a paste that gives the filling its nutty flavour and body.
Grated cocoanut
Folded into the batter to add moisture and a sweet, tropical flavour.

The step that matters

Place the cake in the oven to harden, being careful not to scorch it.. The top layer must be set before heating, and gentle heat firms the filling while sugar and proteins brown quickly, so the cake can scorch if left too long or too hot.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, flour, egg, milk, nutmeg, almond):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, flour, egg, milk, nutmeg, almond. 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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