Name: Farmers' Fruit Cake
Ingredients: 2 teaspoonfuls nutmeg 1 cupful sour dried apples soak apple over night; 1 cupful sour dried apples soak apple over night; a cupful of molasses; 1 egg 1 cupful sugar v2 cupful butter v2 cupful sour milk 2 cupfuls flour 1; 1 cupful sugar v2 cupful butter v2 cupful sour milk 2 cupfuls flour 1 teaspo; 2 cupfuls flour 1 teaspoonful soda 1 teaspoonful cloves 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamo; 1 teaspoonful soda 1 teaspoonful cloves 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon 2 teaspoonfu; 1 teaspoonful cloves 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon 2 teaspoonfuls nutmeg 1 cupful so; 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon 2 teaspoonfuls nutmeg 1 cupful sour dried apples soa

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Farmers' Fruit Cake

Ingredients

2 teaspoonfuls nutmeg 1 cupful sour dried apples soak apple over night
1 cupful sour dried apples soak apple over night
a cupful of molasses
1 egg 1 cupful sugar v2 cupful butter v2 cupful sour milk 2 cupfuls flour 1
1 cupful sugar v2 cupful butter v2 cupful sour milk 2 cupfuls flour 1 teaspo
2 cupfuls flour 1 teaspoonful soda 1 teaspoonful cloves 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamo
1 teaspoonful soda 1 teaspoonful cloves 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon 2 teaspoonfu
1 teaspoonful cloves 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon 2 teaspoonfuls nutmeg 1 cupful so
2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon 2 teaspoonfuls nutmeg 1 cupful sour dried apples soa

Directions

V2 cupful butter V2 cupful sour milk
2 cupfuls flour 1 teaspoonful soda
1 teaspoonful cloves 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon
2 teaspoonfuls nutmeg 1 cupful sour dried apples
Soak apple over night, then chop fine and simmer 2 hours in a cupful of molasses. Add the apple last.
Mrs. H. H. Cowles.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1011Calories

28 gProtein

27 gFat

165 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
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
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 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.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,104 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Swap the apple

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

Raisinfits better
Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Applethe original

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