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Dessert

Cake Fillings and Frostings

A collection of cake fillings and frostings made with cream, sugar, coconut, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ithaca (N.Y.) First Baptist Church. Ladies Union · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Cake Fillings and Frostings

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cream filling

  1. Whip one cup of sweet cream.

  2. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar.

  3. Stir in half cup of coconut lightly.

  4. Spread between layers.

Make the custard

  1. Beat one egg and half cup of sugar together.

  2. Add one-fourth cup of flour wet with milk.

  3. Stir with egg and sugar into half pint of boiling milk.

  4. Cook until thickened.

  5. Beat one egg with a tablespoonful of sugar.

  6. Add half teaspoon of lemon extract.

  7. Add slowly half cup of boiling milk in which a heaping teaspoon of flour has been cooked.

  8. Boil over the tea kettle a few minutes, stirring constantly.

  9. When cool, spread between the layers.

Make the coconut frosting

  1. Combine one cup of coconut, one cup of sugar, three eggs, grated rind and juice of one orange or lemon.

  2. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.

  3. Ice top and sprinkle with coconut.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

856Calories
29 gProtein
20 gFat
139 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12

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

By Ithaca (N.Y.) First Baptist Church. Ladies Union. 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. Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

What each ingredient does

Sweet cream
Whipped, it gives the filling a light, airy texture and moisture.
Eggs
Thicken the custard and the frosting as they cook, giving body and structure.
Flour
Thickens the milk mixture so the custard sets smoothly rather than runny.
Coconut (in the method)
Adds chewy texture and sweet flavor to the filling and frosting.
Milk
Forms the base of the custard, which thickens as it cooks.
Sugar
Sweetens the fillings and helps the eggs and cream hold their texture.

The step that matters

Cook the custard until thickened. Egg and starch thicken as they heat, but overcooking can curdle the eggs and make the custard grainy. Stir constantly so it cooks evenly and stays smooth.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, sugar, flour, milk, lemon, egg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, sugar, flour, milk, lemon, egg. 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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