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Dessert

Layer Cakes

Layer Cakes are a layered cake with raisins, citron, molasses, coffee, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓

Layer Cakes

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 the batter

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

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

  3. Add the egg, molasses, and lemon extract, mixing well.

  4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, and grated nutmeg.

  5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, alternating with the coffee.

  6. Fold in the seeded raisins and chopped citron.

Bake and assemble

  1. Divide the batter into two layers and bake for 25-30 minutes.

  2. Once cooled, layer the cakes with jelly in between.

  3. Frost the top as 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. Clove + cinnamontop 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. Raisin + cinnamontop 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. Raisin + clovetop 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

Butter
Creaming with sugar traps air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich flavor.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure and richness to the crumb.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses and coffee to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness that also tempers the baking soda's reaction.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness, moisture, and caramel notes, and helps the batter brown.

The step that matters

Adding the dry ingredients alternately with the coffee. Adding flour and liquid in portions keeps the batter smooth and well emulsified, so the crumb bakes evenly and does not turn dense or greasy.

Swap the clove

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, raisin, sugar, molasses, egg, cinnamon, 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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