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Coffee Cake

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Coffee Cake

Ingredients

Directions

  1. MRS. E. S. SPEED, RUSHVILLE, ILL.

  2. One coffeecup of molasses, one coffeecup of coffee, one and a half coffeecups of brown sugar, one coffeecup of butter, five eggs, four cups of flour, one teaspoon of soda, one pound of raisins, one pound of currants, one pound of citron, three tablespoons of cin- namon, one teaspoon of cloves and one nutmeg.

  3. RICH COFFEE CAKE. "

  4. MRS. T. A. PARKER, RUSUVILLE, ILL.

  5. One and a half cups of butter, two cups of sugar, four cups of flour, one cup of cold coffee, four eggs, one nutmeg, two table- spoons of cinnamon, one teaspoon of cloves, one teaspoon of soda mixed in flour, one cup of molasses, one pound of raisins, one pound of currants and one-half pound of citron.

  6. 158 LOAF CAKES.

  7. PORK CAKE. NO. 1.

  8. MRS. C. B. WILLIS.

  9. Pour over one pound of pork chopped fine, one cup of boiling water, and add two cups of molasses, one cup of sugar, two tea- spoons of soda, spices to the taste, one and a half or two pounds of raisins, one pound of citron, two eggs and flour to make as stiflP as pound cake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1071Calories
47 gProtein
33 gFat
144 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 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
Pork100g cooked242
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Coffeenot in our table0
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 Des Moines. Plymouth church. [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. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  3. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter 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

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, raisin, clove, butter, sugar, coffee, molasses. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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