Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Coffee Loaf 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line loaf cake tins with paper.
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar, butter, and lard.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the currants, strong coffee, flour, baking powder, and molasses until well combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared tins.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Lard
- Adds fat that keeps the crumb soft and tender.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deeper flavour, and helps the crumb stay soft.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs one at a time. Adding eggs gradually, mixing well after each, lets the creamed fat and sugar absorb them evenly. Adding them too quickly can cause the batter to curdle and become uneven.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, coffee, flour, molasses):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, coffee, flour, molasses. 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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