Name: Spice Cake
Ingredients: 2 cups brown sugar; 1 cup butter; 1 cup sour milk; 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in milk; 1 cup raisins; 1 cup nuts; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon cloves; 3 eggs

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Spice Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the batter

Mix 2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup butter, 3 eggs, 2 cups flour, 1 cup sour milk, 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in milk, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup nuts (chopped or broken), 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon cloves.

Bake

Bake in loaf or little cakes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

628Calories

24 gProtein

36 gFat

57 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 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 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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,070 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
Butter: Adds richness and tenderness by coating the flour and softening the crumb.
Flour (in the method): Builds the cake's structure as its starch and proteins set in the oven.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic sour milk to release gas that helps the cake rise.
Sour milk: Supplies acidity that activates the soda and adds moisture.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness, moisture and a soft, dark crumb.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, raisin, cinnamon, clove, egg):

Almondfits better
Chestnutfits better
Walnutfits better
Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, raisin, cinnamon, clove, 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.