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Dessert

Plum Cake

A dense fruit cake made with raisins, currants, almonds, molasses, butter, eggs, spices, and sweet milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Plum Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA very slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

  2. Brown the flour on the stove, then sift it before adding.

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, combine raisins, currants, brown sugar, chopped almonds, citron, and lemon peel.

  2. Add molasses, softened butter, and eggs to the mixture and mix well.

  3. Season with cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste.

  4. Stir in sweet milk and baking soda.

  5. Gradually add flour until the batter is stiff enough not to run.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.

  2. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted 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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

  4. Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Provides the structure that sets the batter, and browning it first adds a toasted flavor.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep brown color.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Raisins
Add moisture and chewy sweetness throughout the cake.

The step that matters

Gradually add flour until the batter is stiff enough not to run. Flour absorbs liquid and builds structure as the batter is mixed. Adding it gradually lets you stop once the batter is stiff, since too much flour makes the cake dry and too little leaves it too loose to hold its shape.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, almond, lemon, molasses, butter, egg):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Orangefits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, almond, lemon, molasses, butter, egg. 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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