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Neapolitan Cake

A layered cake with a spiced dark fruit layer and a white layer, spread with a lemon and sugar frosting.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Chippewa Falls, Wis. Episcopal church. Ladies aid society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 21 ingredients
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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 ↓

Neapolitan Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Bake the cakes

  1. Bake the black cake in round pans with straight sides, so the loaves are one and one-half inches thick after baking.

  2. For the white part, flavor slightly with bitter almonds.

  3. Bake the white cake in the same pans as the black cake.

Make and spread the frosting

  1. After the cake is cold, spread each black cake with a thick coating of lemon and sugar frosting.

  2. For the frosting, beat the white of one egg thoroughly.

  3. Mix in the grated rind of two lemons and the juice of three lemons.

  4. Add powdered sugar enough to make a thick frosting.

Assemble

  1. Lay each white layer upon each black one and frost as you would any other cake, using no other flavoring than lemon.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

978Calories
29 gProtein
27 gFat
158 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 13 ingredients. The other 3 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
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Coffeenot in our table0
Macenot in our table0
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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Cinnamon + macetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the cake's structure as its proteins set during baking.
Eggs
Bind the batter and help set the cake's structure as they cook.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender, rich crumb.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark colour and deep flavour to the black cake.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses and coffee to help the cake rise.
Lemons
Provide sharp acidity and bright aroma to the frosting.

The step that matters

Frost only after the cake is fully cold. A warm cake melts the sugar frosting, so it slides off or sinks in instead of forming a thick, even coating.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, molasses, coffee, flour, cinnamon, clove):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Cardamomfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, molasses, coffee, flour, cinnamon, clove. 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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