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Dessert

Cincinnati Cake

A cake made with fat pork, boiling water, brown sugar, molasses, spices, raisins, citron, brandy, salt, baking powder, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Women of the First Congregational Church (Marysville, Ohio) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and flour 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 ↓

Cincinnati Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pork

  1. Chop one pound fat pork finely.

  2. Pour one pint boiling water over it.

Mix the batter

  1. Add two cups brown sugar.

  2. Add one of molasses.

  3. Add one tablespoon each of cloves and nutmeg.

  4. Add two of cinnamon.

  5. Add two pounds raisins.

  6. Add one-fourth pound citron.

  7. Add one-half glass brandy.

  8. Add one teaspoon salt.

  9. Add three of baking powder.

  10. Add seven cups sifted flour.

Bake

  1. Bake slowly for two and one-half hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

873Calories
41 gProtein
16 gFat
140 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Brandynot 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 Women of the First Congregational Church (Marysville, Ohio). 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. Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Clove + raisintop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Sifted flour
Provides the structure that holds the dense batter together as it bakes.
Fat pork
Adds richness and moisture, keeping the crumb tender during the long bake.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark color and a deep sweetness to the cake.
Raisins
Add sweetness, chewiness and moisture throughout the cake.

The step that matters

Bake slowly for two and one-half hours. A long, low bake lets a dense, fruit-packed batter cook through to the center before the outside darkens or dries out.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits about as well
  3. Clovethe original
  4. Gingerfits about as well

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