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Dessert

Plum-cakes

A rich cake made with flour, sugar, currants, raisins, spices, almonds, butter, cream, wine, brandy, rose water, eggs, yeast, and candied citrus.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Plum-cakes

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.

Prepare the batter

  1. Mix the flour and sugar thoroughly in a large bowl.

  2. Add the currants, raisins, spices, lemon peel, and almonds, and mix well.

  3. Melt the butter in the lukewarm cream, then stir in the sweet wine, brandy, rose-water, and beaten eggs.

  4. Gradually strain the liquid into the dry ingredients, beating the mixture for a full hour.

Bake and finish

  1. Butter a hoop or pan and pour in the batter, adding plenty of citron, lemon, and orange candy.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for at least 4 hours.

  3. If icing, pour it over the cake when nearly cold.

  4. Return it to the oven overnight to set.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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 add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
Fine flour
Forms the main structure of the cake as it bakes.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps it brown during baking.
Currants
Add fruit moisture and sweetness throughout the cake.
Almonds
Add richness, moisture and nutty flavour to the batter.

The step that matters

Beating the batter for a full hour. Long beating works air into the batter and develops the structure, while the eggs and flour need to be fully combined so the cake rises evenly and bakes without streaks.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, raisin, mace, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, raisin, mace, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg. 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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