Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Pork 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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine the chopped salt pork and hot water; mix well.
Add the raisins, sugar, molasses, baking soda, cloves, and cinnamon; stir until combined.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until the batter is smooth.
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake
Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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.
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.
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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,070 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt pork
- Adds fat and savory richness that keeps the cake moist as it bakes.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness to the cake.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets the batter into a cake as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps browning and tenderness in the crumb.
- Raisins
- Add chewy pockets of sweetness and moisture throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda with the molasses. Baking soda needs an acid such as molasses to react and release gas for rising. Stirring it in evenly before the flour keeps the leavening distributed so the cake rises uniformly.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, raisin, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
- Gingerfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, raisin, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, flour. 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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