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Dessert

Scotch Cake

A sweet cake made with flour, butter, powdered sugar, almonds, candied orange peel, citron, nutmeg, caraway seeds, eggs, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Scotch Cake

Why it works: Almond and nutmeg 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 ↓

Scotch Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the batter

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

  2. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.

  3. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix well.

  4. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing after each addition.

  5. Mix in the flour gradually until fully incorporated.

  6. Fold in the chopped almonds, candied orange peel, citron, grated nutmeg, and caraway seeds.

  7. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold into the batter.

  8. Stir in the brandy.

Bake and serve

  1. Butter a cake pan and pour in the batter, smoothing the top.

  2. Sprinkle caraway comfits on top.

  3. Bake without moving until nearly done, about 1 hour.

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. Almond + nutmegtop 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. Nutmeg + carawaytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together200 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Flour + carawaytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,435 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the starch and gluten framework that gives the cake its structure.
Unsalted butter
Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the cake a tender, rich texture.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps create a fine, tender crumb when creamed with butter.
Eggs
Yolks add richness and emulsify the batter; whipped whites lighten it and help it rise.
Blanched sweet almonds
Add body, nutty flavor and a moist, chewy texture to the crumb.
Candied orange peel
Adds concentrated citrus aroma and sweetness throughout the cake.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whites must be whipped to stiff peaks and folded in gently; overmixing deflates the air bubbles that give the cake its lift, while underfolding leaves streaks and a dense crumb.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, rose, sugar, almond, nutmeg, caraway):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, rose, sugar, almond, nutmeg, caraway. 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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