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Dessert

Marble Cake

A sponge cake with alternating layers of white and dark batter, flavored with raisins and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Marble 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.

Make the batter

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

  2. In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the sweet cream and mix well.

  3. In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder and flour. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, mixing until smooth.

  4. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold them into the batter.

  5. For the dark batter, use the egg yolks and mix with raisins and spices.

Bake

  1. In a loaf pan, alternate spoonfuls of white and dark batter. Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted 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.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 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. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  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

Egg whites
Beaten to stiff peaks, they lighten the batter and give the cake its airy rise.
Butter
Creamed with sugar, it adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Sugar
Creamed with butter, it sweetens the cake and helps create a light, fluffy texture.
Flour
Forms the structure of the cake once its proteins set during baking.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
Egg yolks
Add richness and moisture to the dark batter and help bind it.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites hold the batter's air. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, while gentle folding keeps the cake light and well risen.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Cardamomfits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, cream, egg, flour, raisin, allspice. 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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