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Dessert

Black Cake

A spiced cake with raisins, currants, and citron, baked at 350°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg 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 ↓

Black Cake

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, mix the sugar and butter until creamy.

  2. Add the eggs and mix well.

  3. Stir in the sour cream or milk.

  4. Add the baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and flour, mixing until combined.

  5. Fold in the raisins or currants and shredded citron.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.

  2. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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 + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Allspice + clovetop 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

Butter
Creams with sugar to trap air and adds richness and tenderness to the crumb.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and moisture as the cake sets in the oven.
Flour
Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour cream to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Raisins or currants
Add chewy pockets of fruit sweetness throughout the cake.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender texture when creamed with butter.

The step that matters

Checking for doneness. Baking soda and flour set during the bake, so pulling the cake too early can leave a sunken, gummy centre. Test the middle with a toothpick and bake until it comes out clean.

Swap the clove

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

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

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