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Spice Cakes

A spiced cake made with molasses, figs, and spices baked at 350°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Spice Cakes

Why it works: Cinnamon and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Spice Cakes

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

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

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, mix molasses, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, paprika, vinegar, and warm water.

  2. Add fig mince and eggs, then stir until combined.

  3. Gradually add flour and mix until smooth.

  4. Pour the batter into shallow pans.

Bake

  1. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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.

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.

  1. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + figtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together614 recipes

    Shared aroma: cinnamyl acetate (sweet aromatic, cinnamon).

  3. Allspice + figtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together182 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  4. Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture to the batter.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic vinegar and molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
Flour
Forms the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
Vinegar
Acidifies the batter, activating the baking soda for rise.

The step that matters

Mixing in the baking soda with the acidic liquids. Baking soda needs an acid to react and release gas. If it is not well dispersed in the molasses and vinegar mixture, the cake may rise unevenly or have pockets of bitter soda.

Swap the fig

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, cinnamon, allspice, vinegar, egg, flour):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Figthe original
  3. Orangefits about as well
  4. Vanillafits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, cinnamon, allspice, vinegar, egg, 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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