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Dessert

Almond Loaf Cake

A sweet loaf cake with almonds, citron, raisins, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,115 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Loaf 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

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

  2. Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

  3. Beat the eggs separately and then add them to the creamed mixture.

  4. Stir in the brandy, grated nutmeg, and cream.

Make the batter

  1. In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda, cream of tartar, and flour.

  2. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.

  3. Fold in the sliced citron, almonds, and raisins.

  4. Pour the batter into greased loaf pans.

Bake and finish

  1. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

  2. Frost if desired.

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 + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Provide structure and richness as they bind the creamed batter.
Butter
Adds fat and tenderness when creamed with sugar to trap air.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender, lightly aerated crumb.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to release gas, helping the cake rise.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the batter so the baking soda reacts and lifts the crumb.
All-purpose flour
Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.

The step that matters

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding flour in portions and mixing gently limits gluten development, keeping the loaf tender rather than tough and dense.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, brandy, cream, flour, almond):

  1. Nutmegthe original
  2. Cinnamonfits about as well
  3. Capersfits less well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, brandy, cream, flour, almond. 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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