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Dessert

Fig Cake

A layered cake made with figs, raisins, butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon 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 ↓

Fig 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 large bowl, cream together 4 cups sugar and 1⅓ cups softened butter until light and fluffy.

  3. Add 2 cups milk, 2 cups corn starch, 4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and the whites of 12 eggs. Mix until smooth.

  4. In another bowl, combine 2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup softened butter, 4 eggs, 1 cup water, and 1 teaspoon baking soda. Mix well.

  5. Stir in 3½ cups flour, grated nutmeg, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3 cups chopped raisins, and 1 pound figs into the brown sugar mixture.

Assemble and bake

  1. Grease your cake pans and layer with butter, figs, and batter alternately.

  2. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Finish

  1. Once baked, layer the white and dark cakes with icing to create five layers.

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. Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Corn + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together647 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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 structure of the cake as the proteins set during baking.
Eggs
Bind the batter and help it set into a firm, sliceable crumb.
Butter
Adds richness and a tender texture, and carries flavor.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake, adds moisture, and helps the crust brown.
Baking soda
Helps the batter rise by releasing carbon dioxide gas.
Corn starch
Softens the crumb, giving a more tender texture than flour alone.

The step that matters

Baking the layers. Baking too long dries out the cake, while removing it too early leaves a wet, underset centre. The toothpick test checks that the crumb has set throughout, and the figs and raisins add moisture that affects how long the layers need.

“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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