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Dessert

Imitation Fruit Cake

A baked cake made with shortening, sugar, egg yolks, milk, walnuts, raisins, jelly, spices, and baking powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Imitation Fruit 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. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the batter

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Cream the shortening and sugar together until light.

  3. Add the beaten yolks of the eggs and cream until well mixed.

  4. Sift the dry ingredients together three times.

  5. Add the milk and flour alternately, stirring continuously.

  6. Mix in the chopped nuts, raisins, and jelly.

Bake and ice

  1. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake for about 1 hour.

  2. For the icing, beat the whites of the eggs until stiff.

  3. Gradually add powdered sugar until stiff, then mix in the vanilla.

  4. Once the cake is cold, cover it with the icing.

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. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Walnut + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,230 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

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

  4. Walnut + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Walnut + chocolatetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,548 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

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

What each ingredient does

Shortening
Adds fat and tenderness to the crumb as it is creamed with sugar.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps create a light texture when creamed.
Eggs
Yolks add richness and help bind the batter; whites set the icing.
Walnuts
Add crunch and nutty flavor throughout the cake.
Raisins
Add chewy sweetness and moisture to the fruit cake.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes lighter.

The step that matters

Sift the dry ingredients together three times. Sifting aerates and evenly distributes the leavening and spices, so the batter rises evenly and the crumb stays light rather than dense.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, milk, walnut, chocolate, nutmeg):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, milk, walnut, chocolate, 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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