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Dessert

Coffee Cake with Raisins

A moist cake made with coffee, raisins, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Coffee Cake with Raisins

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

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

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, cream together the lard and brown sugar.

  2. Beat in the egg and coffee.

  3. Dissolve the baking soda in the coffee and add it to the mixture.

  4. Stir in the cinnamon and cloves.

  5. Add enough flour to create a stiff batter.

  6. Fold in the floured raisins.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.

  2. Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick 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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

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

  4. Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Clove + raisintop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Lard or shortening
Creams with the sugar to add fat, tenderness and a moist crumb.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and its molasses gives a deeper flavor.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidity in the batter to help it rise and brown.
Coffee
Supplies liquid for the batter and adds a deep, roasted flavor.
Raisins
Add chewy pockets of sweetness; flouring them helps keep them suspended in the batter.

The step that matters

Dissolve the baking soda in the coffee. Baking soda must be fully dissolved so it reacts evenly with the batter's acidity. Undissolved pockets can leave bitter spots or uneven rising.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, coffee, cinnamon, raisin, flour):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, coffee, cinnamon, raisin, flour. 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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