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Dessert

Pork Cake

A sweet pork cake made with currants, raisins, molasses, brown sugar, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Chicago. Bethany union church. Woman's society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Pork Cake

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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 ↓

Pork Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Chop one pound fresh fat pork as finely as possible.

  2. Pour one cup boiling water over the pork.

  3. Add one cup brown sugar.

  4. Add one pound currants.

  5. Add one cup molasses.

  6. Add one pound raisins.

  7. Add one teaspoon soda dissolved in hot water.

  8. Add one teaspoon cinnamon.

  9. Add one teaspoon cloves.

  10. Add one egg.

  11. Add four cups flour.

Bake

  1. Bake for two hours in a long shallow basting pan.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

957Calories
47 gProtein
21 gFat
143 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Waternot 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 Chicago. Bethany union church. Woman's society. [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.

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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Provides the main structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
Eggs
Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets.
Molasses
Adds moisture, deep sweetness and a dark color to the cake.
Fresh fat pork
Adds richness and moisture, melting into the batter during baking.
Soda
Reacts with the molasses to lighten the batter and help it rise.
Raisins
Add chewy sweetness and moisture throughout the cake.

The step that matters

Chop the pork as finely as possible. Finely chopped fat distributes evenly through the batter and melts during baking, keeping the cake moist. Large pieces leave greasy pockets and uneven texture.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, sugar, molasses, raisin, cinnamon, clove, flour):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, sugar, molasses, raisin, cinnamon, clove, flour. 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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