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Marsden, or Veal Cake

A layered veal cake with gravy, eggs, ham, and pickles.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Veal and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,264 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Marsden, or Veal Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow 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).

  2. Butter a pie dish.

Layer

  1. Lay slices of hard-boiled eggs around the sides and bottom of the dish.

  2. Layer slices of cold veal, ham, and pickles, seasoning each layer well.

  3. Pour good rich gravy over the layers.

  4. Repeat layering until the dish is full, finishing with gravy on top.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake for 20 minutes.

  2. Let it cool before turning it out.

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. Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,264 recipes

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

  2. Butter + hamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

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

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + vealtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,381 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Hard-boiled eggs
Sliced eggs form a firm, sliceable layer that holds its shape when the cake is turned out.
Cold veal
Provides the main meaty body and substance of the cake.
Ham
Adds salty, savory flavor that complements the veal and gravy.
Pickles
Add acidity that cuts through the richness of the meat and gravy.
Good rich gravy
Adds moisture and binds the layers together as it bakes.

The step that matters

Let it cool before turning it out. Cooling lets the gravy and any melted fat set, so the layers hold together when the cake is unmolded instead of crumbling or slumping.

“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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