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Dessert

English Tipsy Cake

A sponge cake soaked in brandy and sherry, topped with raspberry jam, almonds, whipped cream, and red sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Brandy and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

English Tipsy Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on the bottom of the dish before placing the cake.

  2. Place the sponge cake in a serving dish.

Soak and decorate

  1. Pour the brandy and sherry over the cake until fully soaked.

  2. Blanch the almonds, slice them, and stick them all over the cake.

  3. Beat the heavy cream to stiff peaks and spread it over the cake just before serving.

  4. Sprinkle red sugar on the cream for decoration.

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.

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. Brandy + sherrytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Raspberry + almondtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together552 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Brandy + winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,427 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Sherry + raspberrytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together109 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Sponge cake
Forms the absorbent base that soaks up the liquor and holds the layers together.
Brandy
Soaks into the sponge and adds a strong, warming aroma and flavour.
Sherry wine
Adds sweetness and depth of flavour to the soaking liquid.
Heavy cream
Whipped to stiff peaks, it forms a rich, light topping with fat and body.
Raspberry jam
Adds fruity sweetness and a sticky layer that helps the cake hold together.

The step that matters

Soak the cake until fully saturated. Liquid needs time to penetrate the crumb evenly; if the sponge is only wetted on top, the centre stays dry and the flavour uneven.

“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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