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Dessert

Prince of Wales

A two-part cake with a dark raisin mixture and a white batter, baked in layers and iced.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Chippewa Falls, Wis. Episcopal church. Ladies aid society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 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 ↓

Prince of Wales

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batters

  1. In a bowl, mix one cupful of brown sugar, one-half cupful of butter, one-half cupful of sour milk, two cupfuls of flour, one cupful of chopped raisins, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm water, one tablespoonful of molasses, yolks of three eggs, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one-half teaspoonful of cloves, and one nutmeg.

  2. In another bowl, combine one cupful of flour, one-half cupful of corn starch, one-half cupful of sweet milk, one-half cupful of butter, one cupful of white sugar, one large teaspoonful of baking powder, and whites of three eggs.

Bake and assemble

  1. Bake the two batters in layers.

  2. Assemble the layers and apply icing.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1127Calories
36 gProtein
35 gFat
168 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Sour Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
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
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Waternot 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. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the main structure that holds the cake's crumb together.
Eggs
Yolks enrich one batter while whites add lift and structure to the other.
Butter
Adds fat that gives the cake tenderness and rich flavour.
Baking powder
Releases gas when heated, lifting the second batter as it bakes.
Soda
Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas that lightens the first batter.
Sour milk
Its acidity reacts with the soda, helping the first batter rise and softening its crumb.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Clovethe original
  4. Allspicefits about as well

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