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Dessert

Soda Cake

A moist cake made with flour, soda, spices, sugar, fruit, butter, eggs, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Margaret · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Soda Cake

Why it works: Nutmeg and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Soda Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dry mix

  1. Rub soda and spices through the flour.

  2. Rub dripping well into the flour.

  3. Add sugar and fruit to the flour mixture.

  4. Mix all well in dry state.

Add the liquids

  1. Add eggs and milk by degrees.

  2. Adjust milk as needed; mixture should be moist but not over-beaten.

Bake

  1. Put mixture in a greased tin.

  2. Bake for three hours in a slow oven.

Second method and bake

  1. Mix flour and soda together.

  2. Wash and dry sultanas.

  3. Add sultanas, cut peel, cream, butter, and sugar to the flour mixture.

  4. Add the egg and milk, well beaten, to the mixture.

  5. Sprinkle in flour and fruit gradually. Mix well.

  6. Bake in a moderate oven for 2 hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

743Calories
27 gProtein
15 gFat
121 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12

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

By Hamilton, Margaret. 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.

  1. Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  4. Nutmeg + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Eggs
Bind the batter and set during baking to give the crumb firmness.
Milk
Adds moisture and loosens the batter to a soft, workable consistency.
Dripping (in the method)
Rubbed into the flour to coat it, giving a tender, rich crumb.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.

The step that matters

Adjust the milk and avoid over-beating. Overbeating develops gluten in the flour, which makes the cake tough. The batter should be moist enough to be workable but mixed only until combined, so the crumb stays tender.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Jalapenofits less well
  4. Turmericfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, sugar, egg. 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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