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Dessert

Federal Cakes

A sweet cake made with flour, butter, sugar, spices, wine or brandy, rose water, eggs, and pearl-ash.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Federal Cakes

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the dough

  1. Sift the flour into a deep pan and cut in the butter.

  2. Rub the butter into the flour with your hands.

  3. Gradually add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, wine or brandy, and rose water.

  4. Beat the eggs until light and add them to the mixture.

  5. Dissolve the pearl-ash in a little lukewarm water and add it to the mixture.

  6. Mix well and add cold water to form a stiff dough.

  7. Knead slightly and roll out to a thickness of ½ inch.

Shape and bake

  1. Cut into small cakes using a tin cutter or tumbler, dipping the cutter in flour to prevent sticking.

  2. Place the cakes on buttered shallow pans or flat sheets, ensuring they do not touch.

  3. Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) until light brown.

  4. These cakes are best the second day.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

All-purpose flour
Forms the main structure of the dough that holds the cakes together.
Fresh butter
Adds fat for tenderness and richness, and helps the dough hold its shape.
Eggs
Add moisture and richness and help bind the dough.
Pearl-ash
Acts as a leavening agent that helps the cakes rise and lighten.

The step that matters

Baking until light brown. Baking in a brisk oven until light brown sets the structure and develops browning flavor. Underbaking leaves the centre doughy, while overbaking dries the cakes out.

“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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