Name: Clove Cake
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar; 1 cup molasses; 1 cup sour milk; 3 cups flour; 1 cup chopped raisins; 2 teaspoons cloves; 1 teaspoon soda; 2 eggs; cloves

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 ↓

Clove Cake

Ingredients

Directions

1 cup sugar, 1/0 c^^P butter, 1 cup molasses, 1 cup sour milk, 3 cups flour, 1 cup chopped raisins, 2 teaspoons cloves, 1 teaspoon soda, 2 eggs; add any kind of fruit.
Mrs. M. Hazeltine.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

858Calories

28 gProtein

15 gFat

153 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7

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

By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,070 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

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

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

Swap the clove

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

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Gingerfits about as well
Clovethe original

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