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Dessert

Mary Klenha

A fruit cake made with beef suet, raisins, currants, figs, apples, spices, cider, sugar, and sherry or brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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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 ↓

Mary Klenha

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil the beef the day before with just enough water so that when the meat is tender the water will be boiled back into the meat.

  2. The following morning, add the sugar to cider and boil until half the amount remains.

  3. Put meat and suet through a food chopper, and cut the raisins, citron and orange peel, dates, figs and apples by hand or put them through a coarse food chopper.

Combine and seal

  1. Mix all together and bring to a boil, sealing the mixture while it is still boiling hot.

  2. Add the juice of pickled peaches or pears to improve the flavor.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

658Calories
30 gProtein
17 gFat
105 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 14 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Date1 date (24g) medjool66
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Fig1 medium (50g)37
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Macenot in our table0
Cidernot 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 Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

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

  3. Orange + cinnamontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,437 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Fig + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together614 recipes

    Shared aroma: cinnamyl acetate (sweet aromatic, cinnamon).

  5. Orange + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,987 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef suet
Adds fat and richness, helping the cake stay moist and tender.
Raisins
Provide concentrated sweetness and a chewy texture.
Apples
Add moisture and a tart note that balances the sugar.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and depth, and helps the mixture keep its moisture.
Cider
Supplies liquid and a fruity tang that carries the other flavors.
Figs
Add natural sweetness and a soft, chewy texture.

The step that matters

Sealing the mixture while it is still boiling hot. Heat drives air out of the mixture and kills many spoilage microbes, so filling and sealing it while very hot helps it keep as it cools. Letting it cool before sealing leaves room for contamination.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, raisin, currant, orange, fig, cinnamon, clove):

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Cardamomfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, raisin, currant, orange, fig, cinnamon, 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.

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