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Dessert

Molasses Feuit Cake

A dense cake made with molasses, flour, butter, sugar, fruit, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Chippewa Falls, Wis. Episcopal church. Ladies aid society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 22 ingredients
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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 ↓

Molasses Feuit Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the fruit cake

  1. Combine one cupful of butter, one cupful of brown sugar, one cupful of sweet milk, three-fourths of a cupful of molasses, three cupfuls of flour, four eggs, one and one-half teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, one teaspoonful of soda, two pounds of currants or raisins, chopped, one-third of a nutmeg, and a little brandy; bake slowly.

Make the gem cakes

  1. Combine one and one-half cupfuls of sugar, one-half cupful of butter, two eggs, three-quarters cupful of sour milk, one and one-half cupfuls of chopped raisins, one-half teaspoonful of soda, and two cupfuls of flour before sifting; bake in gem tins.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1253Calories
53 gProtein
40 gFat
170 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Sour Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cakenot in our table0

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

By Chippewa Falls, Wis. Episcopal church. Ladies aid 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.

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and the dark color and flavor of the cake.
Sour milk
Its acidity reacts with the soda, helping the cake rise.

The step that matters

Bake slowly. A dense batter full of currants or raisins needs low, gentle heat so the centre cooks through before the outside darkens or burns. Testing for doneness at the centre prevents a gummy middle.

Swap the currant

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, flour, cream, raisin, molasses. 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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