Why it works: Brandy and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,738 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
Tipsy Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cake
Procure a cake that is three or four days old, either sponge, Savoy, or rice, suitable for a tipsy cake.
Level the bottom of the cake so it stands firm in the dish.
Make a small hole in the centre of the cake.
Soak and decorate
Pour sufficient sweet wine or sherry, mixed with the brandy, into and over the cake to soak it nicely.
When the cake is well soaked, blanch and cut the almonds into strips.
Stick the almond strips all over the cake.
Finish with custard
Pour a good custard around the cake, made by recipe No. 1423, using 8 eggs instead of 5 for the pint of milk.
Optionally, crumble and soak the cake, and top with whipped cream, as for trifles.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
| Brandy | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
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Brandy + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,738 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Brandy + almondtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,969 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Brandy + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
-
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brandy
- Adds a warm, aromatic flavour that gives the tipsy cake its character.
- Eggs
- Set the custard, giving it body and a smooth, rich texture.
- Rich custard
- Moistens the cake and adds creamy sweetness around the sponge.
- Sponge or savoy cake
- Provides the absorbent base that soaks up the wine and brandy.
The step that matters
Soaking the cake. The liquid must soak through the cake evenly without making it collapse. Pouring slowly into the central hole lets the sponge absorb it gradually, so the cake stays intact and moist.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, egg, milk):
- Cocoafits about as well
- Walnutfits about as well
- Pecansfits about as well
- Almondthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, egg, milk. 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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