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Dessert

Black Fruit Cake

A dense cake made with raisins, currants, citron, molasses, almonds, and spices, baked slowly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Black Fruit Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

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 the fruit and nuts

  1. Seed the raisins.

  2. Cut the raisins fine.

  3. Wash and dry the currants thoroughly.

  4. Cut the citron fine.

  5. Blanch the citron.

  6. Pound the almonds.

  7. Dredge all the fruit with flour.

Make the batter

  1. Beat the egg whites separately.

  2. Beat the egg yolks separately.

  3. Stir the beaten whites and yolks together.

  4. Cream the butter and sugar.

  5. Gradually stir in the other ingredients alternately.

  6. Pour the mixture into a well-greased pan lined with paper.

Bake

  1. Bake for five hours in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C).

  2. Divide into two cakes.

  3. Bake for four hours.

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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

  4. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

  5. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the batter and give the cake a light, airy structure when beaten.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
Flour
Provides structure so the cake holds together after the long bake.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown as it bakes.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture and a dark color.
Almonds
Add richness and a nutty flavor and texture.

The step that matters

Dredge all the fruit with flour. A light flour coating helps the fruit cling to the batter, so it is less likely to sink to the bottom during the long, slow bake.

Swap the currant

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, butter, egg, molasses, almond, nutmeg, sugar. 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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