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Ten Minute 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 ↓

Ten Minute Cake

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Two eggs, two tea-cupfuls sugar, two thirds of a cupful but- ter, one tea-spoonful soda, one of cream of tartar in one cupful sweet milk, and flour enough for batter.

  2. GINGER SPONGE CAKE. Half pint of molasses, one cupful butter, one cupful of sour cream, one table-spoonful of ginger, one tea-spoonful of soda, three eggs, five cupfuls of flour, one tea-spoonful cinnamon. — Miss Mary Redmon.

  3. SOFT GINGER CAKE. Two eggs, one tea-cupful sugar, one tea-cupful molasses, one tea-cupful buttermilk, one half tea-cupful butter, four tea-cup- fuJs flour, one tea-spoonful soda, one table-spoonful ginger. — Mrs. WiU Taylor.

  4. EXTRA GINGER CAKE. One and one half pints molasses, five table-spoonfuls ginger, one nutmeg grated, one and one half tea-spoonfuls of pulverized cloves, one and one half of cinnamon, one half tea-spoonful salt.

  5. 104 CAKE EECIPES.

  6. two tea-spoonfnls soda, one tea-cupful of lard, one and one half tea-cupfuls sour cream, six eggs well beaten, flour suffi- cient to make a stiff batter. Bake in tin or stove pans. It sliould be thoroughly beaten — the more the better; bake in a hot oven. — Mrs. Morrow.

  7. SUPERIOR GINGER LOAF. Five tea-cupfuls of flour, one tea-cupful of brown sugar, two tea-cupfuls molasses, two tea-cupfuls sour cream, one tea-cupful of butter, six eggs, two table-spoonfuls of ginger, two of ciunar mon, two tearspoonfuls of mace, one of cloves, one of soda, one pound of currants, one pound of raisins. — Mrs. John Ray.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1195Calories
45 gProtein
41 gFat
162 gCarbs

Counts 14 of 15 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
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
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Macenot 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 Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo. 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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

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

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, molasses, butter, cream, flour, raisin, egg):

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

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

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