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Dessert

Cake, Coffee

A spiced coffee cake with raisins, currants, molasses, and spices baked at 350°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon 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 ↓

Cake, Coffee

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.

Make the batter

  1. Beat the butter until creamy.

  2. Add the brown sugar and mix well.

  3. Incorporate the eggs one at a time.

  4. Gradually add the flour and spices, mixing vigorously.

  5. Flour the citron, raisins, and currants, then fold them into the batter.

  6. Stir in the warm coffee and molasses until combined.

  7. Add the baking powder and mix thoroughly.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased cake tin lined with parchment paper.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until done.

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. Nutmeg + cinnamontop 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 + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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 as they set during baking.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Butter
Adds richness and tenderness through fat coating the flour.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness to the cake.
Baking powder
Releases gas that makes the cake rise and turn light.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a caramel-like flavor.

The step that matters

Adding the baking powder. Baking powder must be mixed in thoroughly and the cake baked promptly, because its leavening gas is released once it is moistened and heated. Uneven mixing leaves dense patches, and delay lets the rising power fade before the batter sets.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Clovethe original
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Turmericfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, flour, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon. 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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