Name: Bride's Fruit Cake
Ingredients: 1 pound butter; 3 cups sugar; 7 eggs; ½ cup molasses; 1 cup sour milk; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 7 cups flour; 2 nutmegs; 2 teaspoons allspice; 1 teaspoon cloves; 3 teaspoons cinnamon; 1 teaspoon salt; 3 pounds raisins; 2 pounds currants; 1 pound citron; lemon peel; orange peel; 2 tablespoons grape juice; 2 tablespoons mixed flavoring; ½ pound almonds

Why it works: Nutmeg and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,331 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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.

Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,331 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Butter: Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the cake a tender, rich crumb.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps build a light texture.
Eggs: Add richness and structure, binding the batter as it sets in the oven.
Flour: Provides the main structure that holds the cake together once baked.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acid in the sour milk and molasses to release gas that lifts the batter.
Molasses: Adds moisture, deep flavor and a darker color to the finished cake.

The step that matters

Dusting the raisins and currants with flour. Heavy dried fruit tends to sink to the bottom of a thick batter during baking. A light coating of flour helps the pieces grip the batter and stay suspended through the bake.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, molasses, milk, flour, nutmeg):

Cinnamonfits better
Cardamomfits about as well
Allspicethe original
Clovefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, molasses, milk, flour, nutmeg. 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.

Bride's Fruit Cake