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Dessert

Loaf Cake

A sweet loaf cake made with butter, sugar, eggs, molasses, flour, mixed fruit, baking soda, brandy, citron, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Loaf 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.

Prepare

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

  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

  3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

  4. Stir in the molasses.

  5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.

  6. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.

  7. Fold in the mixed fruit, brandy, citron, and spices.

  8. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

  2. Let cool before serving. Frost if desired.

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. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  4. Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,127 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 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
Creams with sugar to trap air, giving the loaf a tender, rich crumb.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
Flour
Forms the main structure of the loaf as its proteins set in the oven.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that helps the loaf rise.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark color, and sweetness with a slightly acidic note.
Mixed fruit
Adds moisture, chewy texture, and concentrated sweetness throughout the loaf.

The step that matters

Gradually adding the dry ingredients. Adding flour in portions and mixing only until combined keeps the batter smooth. Overmixing develops gluten, which can make the loaf dense and tough.

“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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