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Fruit Loaf Cake

A loaf cake made with butter, sugar, molasses, milk, eggs, flour, spices, raisins, currants, and citron.

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: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Fruit Loaf Cake

two common sized loaves

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Warm the butter and molasses a little.

  2. Put the sifted flour in a large crock and mix well with the cream tartar.

  3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

Mix and bake

  1. Add the remaining ingredients.

  2. Mix the batter well together with the hands, adding the fruit last after it has been floured.

  3. Bake the loaf for two hours in a moderate oven.

  4. The result will be two common sized loaves.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

964Calories
29 gProtein
32 gFat
140 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

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

  4. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

  5. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Provides the main structure that holds the loaf together as it bakes.
Butter
Adds fat that makes the crumb tender and rich.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and moisture to the crumb.
Cream tartar
Acts as an acid that reacts with the soda to help the loaf rise.
Soda
Reacts with the acid in the cream tartar to produce gas that lifts the batter.
Raisins
Add sweetness and moisture to the loaf.

The step that matters

Adding the fruit last, after flouring. Flouring the raisins and citron and folding them in last coats them so they are less likely to sink to the bottom of the batter while it bakes.

Swap the raisin

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

  1. Vanillafits about as well
  2. Raisinthe original
  3. Figfits less well
  4. Coconutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, cream, milk, cinnamon, egg, nutmeg. 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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