Skip to main content
Dessert

Prince of Wales Cake

A two-layer cake with a white batter and a dark batter, containing raisins, molasses, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 19 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

Prince of Wales Cake

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the batters

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a bowl, mix 1 cup flour, ½ cup cornstarch, ½ cup sweet milk, ½ cup softened butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and the egg whites until smooth.

  3. In another bowl, combine 1 cup dark brown sugar, ½ cup softened butter, ½ cup sour milk, 2 cups flour, chopped raisins, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, egg yolks, lemon peel, and cloves.

Layer and bake

  1. Layer the white batter and dark batter in a greased cake pan.

  2. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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.

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

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

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the main structure that sets the crumb as the cake bakes.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor in both batters.
Egg whites
Add structure and lift to the light batter as they set in the oven.
Egg yolks
Add richness and moisture to the dark batter and help it set.
Baking soda
Reacts with the sour milk and molasses to lift and darken the dark batter.
Dark brown sugar
Adds moisture and molasses-like sweetness that deepens the color of the dark batter.

The step that matters

Layering the two batters. The light and dark batters are thick and similar in weight, so pouring them carelessly can mix them into one color. Spooning them in gently keeps the layers distinct as they bake.

“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.

You might also like

Lemon CakeLemon Cake228 recipesLemon IceLemon Ice147 recipesLemon SherbetLemon Sherbet103 recipesMolasses CookiesMolasses Cookies96 recipes