Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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 ↓
Fruit Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the sour milk, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; mix well.
Gradually add the flour until the batter is not very stiff.
Fold in the currants and chopped raisins.
Bake
Pour the batter into a prepared baking pan.
Bake for 4 hours, allowing the cake to improve with age.
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.
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender crumb by coating the flour and sugar.
- Sugar
- Creaming with butter adds sweetness and helps trap air for a lighter texture.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda and adds moisture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the sour milk to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it sets.
- Currants and raisins
- Add chewy pockets of fruit sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Gradually add the flour until the batter is not very stiff.. Once flour is mixed in, gluten begins to form, and overmixing or adding too much flour makes the cake tough and dense. Stopping at a loose batter keeps the crumb tender.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, sugar, cinnamon, clove, ginger, raisin):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applefits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, sugar, cinnamon, clove, ginger, raisin. 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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