Skip to main content
Dessert

Queen Victorias Wedding Cake

A rich fruit cake made with currants, citron, almonds, butter, spices, eggs, milk, and brandy, baked for four hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Tracy, Suzanne. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Nutmeg and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Queen Victorias Wedding Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Blanch and cut the almonds into strips.

  2. Slice the citron.

  3. Seed and clean raisins.

  4. Wash and dry currants the day before mixing.

  5. Dry flour, sugar, and almonds in a slow oven until slightly browned.

Make the batter

  1. Separate the eggs and beat.

  2. Cream the butter.

  3. Add the sugar and cream together.

  4. Add the flour and eggs alternately, mixing spices with the flour.

  5. Add the milk.

  6. With a wooden spatula, beat in the fruit.

  7. Add one pint of brandy.

Bake and store

  1. Bake for four hours in a moderately heated oven.

  2. Raise the pan from the bottom of the oven.

  3. When baked and cold, turn over the cake and pour the remaining pint of brandy over it.

  4. Wrap in paraffin paper and box.

  5. Once a year, remove from box and pour over another pint of brandy.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

927Calories
29 gProtein
28 gFat
141 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Brandynot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Tracy, Suzanne. [from old catalog]. 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. See the original page.

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 + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + buttertop 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

Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness as the cake bakes.
Butter
Creamed with sugar to trap air and give a tender, rich crumb.
Flour
Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown as it bakes.
Almonds
Add nutty flavor and a pleasant texture through the crumb.
Brandy
Adds aroma and flavor and helps preserve the cake as it matures.

The step that matters

Bake for four hours in a moderately heated oven. A long, gentle bake lets the dense, fruit-filled batter cook through to the center without the outside burning. Raising the pan off the oven floor helps prevent scorching on the bottom.

Swap the currant

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

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

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

You might also like

Cinnamon RollsCinnamon Rolls71 recipesBrandy PeachesBrandy Peaches68 recipesRed Currant JellyRed Currant Jelly65 recipesClove CakeClove Cake53 recipes