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Dessert

Thanksgiving Cake

A coconut cake layered with hickory nuts and figs, topped with frosted coconut.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Coconut and fig share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Thanksgiving Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cake

  1. Prepare a batter similar to coconut cake.

  2. Bake five layers in jelly tins.

  3. Beat the egg whites and mix in baking powder and powdered sugar.

Fill and finish

  1. Mix in rolled hickory nut meats for the first layer.

  2. Mix in finely sliced figs for the second layer.

  3. Mix in hickory nut meats for the third layer.

  4. Mix in figs for the fourth layer.

  5. Spread plain frosting on the top layer.

  6. Generously sprinkle grated coconut over it.

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. Coconut + figtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together88 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + figtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Coconut + meattop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together185 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  4. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + meattop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,432 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Whipped egg whites add air and lift to the batter, helping the layers rise.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking, helping the layers rise and turn light.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the layers and dissolves easily into the batter for a fine crumb.
Hickory nut meats
Adds crunchy texture and a nutty flavor to the layers.
Figs
Adds moisture and a soft, sweet fruitiness to the layers.

Swap the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, meat, fig):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Datesfits better
  4. Coconutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, meat, fig. 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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