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Dessert

Filling for Four-layer Rich White Cake

A boiled frosting made with sugar, egg whites, coconut, orange pulp, nuts, raisins, chocolate, almonds, and citron, divided into four parts for a cake.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 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 ↓

Filling for Four-layer Rich White Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the frosting

  1. Make boiled frosting by combining sugar and egg whites in a saucepan.

  2. Divide the frosting into four parts.

Flavour the parts

  1. In the first part, stir in grated coconut and orange pulp.

  2. In the second part, mix in chopped hickory nuts or walnuts, chopped raisins, and grated chocolate.

  3. In the third part, add chopped almonds and chopped citron.

Finish

  1. Spread smooth white frosting on top.

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. Coconut + almondtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,093 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  3. Orange + almondtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

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

  4. Nuts + almondtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together394 recipes

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

  5. Chocolate + almondtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,733 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

Sugar
Dissolves with egg whites to form the sweet, cooked boiled frosting base.
Egg whites
Whipped with the sugar to build the light, stable structure of the boiled frosting.
Grated coconut
Adds chewy texture and mild sweetness to the first portion of frosting.
Hickory nuts or english walnuts
Add crunch and a rich, earthy flavour to the second portion.
Raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness to the second portion.
Almonds
Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavour to the third portion.

The step that matters

Make the boiled frosting. Sugar and egg whites must be cooked together over heat and whipped until they form a stable, glossy foam. Under-cooked or unwhipped mixtures stay runny and will not hold the nuts and fruit or spread smoothly.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, coconut, nuts, raisin, chocolate, almond):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, coconut, nuts, raisin, chocolate, almond. 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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