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Dessert

Plum Cake

A moist spiced cake made with butter, molasses, sweet milk, eggs, spices, raisins, currants, citron, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Plum Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the batter

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and molasses.

  3. Add the sweet milk and well-beaten eggs, mixing thoroughly.

  4. Stir in the dissolved saleratus, ground spices, and brandy.

  5. Gradually add flour until the batter is stiff but can be stirred easily.

  6. Beat the mixture well until light.

  7. Fold in the raisins, currants, and citron.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick 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. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Mace + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Mace + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds richness and tenderness, and carries flavor through the batter.
Molasses
Adds dark color, moisture, and deep sweetness.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as the cake sets in the oven.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses's acidity to help the cake rise and lighten.
Flour
Provides the structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
Raisins
Add chewy sweetness and moisture throughout the cake.

The step that matters

Dissolve the saleratus fully before adding it. Baking soda must be dissolved and evenly mixed into the batter to react with the molasses's acidity. Unevenly distributed soda leaves pockets that can taste bitter or rise unevenly.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, molasses, milk, egg, allspice, cinnamon, brandy):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Clovefits better
  3. Cardamomfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, molasses, milk, egg, allspice, cinnamon, brandy. 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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