Name: Cheap Fruit Cake
Ingredients: 2 tablespoonfuls sugar beat well; 1 cupful molasses 1 teaspoonful soda % teaspoonful each cloves 2 cupfuls flour; 1 teaspoonful soda % teaspoonful each cloves 2 cupfuls flour; 2 cupfuls flour; 1 cupful fruit mrs; 2 eggs 1 cupful molasses 1 teaspoonful soda % teaspoonful each cloves 2 cupf; 1 cupful molasses 1 teaspoonful soda % teaspoonful each cloves 2 cupfuls flo; cloves; nutmeg

Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Cheap Fruit Cake

Ingredients

2 tablespoonfuls sugar beat well
1 cupful molasses 1 teaspoonful soda % teaspoonful each cloves 2 cupfuls flour
1 teaspoonful soda % teaspoonful each cloves 2 cupfuls flour
2 cupfuls flour
1 cupful fruit mrs
2 eggs 1 cupful molasses 1 teaspoonful soda % teaspoonful each cloves 2 cupf
1 cupful molasses 1 teaspoonful soda % teaspoonful each cloves 2 cupfuls flo
cloves
nutmeg

Directions

V2 cupful butter 2 tablespoonfuls sugar
Beat well ; add 2 eggs 1 cupful molasses
1 teaspoonful soda % teaspoonful each cloves
2 cupfuls flour and nutmeg
1 cupful fruit
Mrs. E. G. Smith.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

659Calories

20 gProtein

8 gFat

126 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Fruit	not in our table	0

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

By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [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.

Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,686 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,483 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

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, flour, egg, nutmeg):

Cinnamonfits better
Allspicefits better
Cardamomfits about as well
Clovethe original

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