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Dessert

Rich Parkin

A sweet oat cake made with oatmeal, lard, butter, sugar, ginger, and golden syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Rich Parkin

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Melt the lard and butter together.

  2. Mix in the Lyle's Golden Syrup.

  3. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

  4. Spread the mixture in greased tins.

Bake and cool

  1. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for two hours.

  2. When taken from the oven, mark it across with a knife.

  3. Allow to cool before cutting or breaking into cakes.

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. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Ginger + syruptop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together950 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14,054 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  4. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Butter + gingertop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,152 recipes

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

Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Oatmeal
Provides the bulk and structure that holds the cake together.
Lard
Adds fat for a short, tender crumb.
Butter
Adds fat and flavour, keeping the cake moist.
Lyle's golden syrup
Adds sweetness and moisture, helping the cake stay soft and sticky.
Ground ginger
Adds warm, spicy aroma that defines the cake's flavour.

The step that matters

Bake in a slow oven. A low, slow bake at 300°F (150°C) dries the mixture gradually so it sets firm without scorching the sugar and syrup. Too hot an oven browns the outside before the centre sets.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, syrup):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits about as well
  3. Gingerthe original
  4. Clovefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, syrup. 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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