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Dessert

Cinnamon Layer Cake

A layered cake made with flour, baking soda, molasses, sugar, eggs, spices, sour milk, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 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 ↓

Cinnamon Layer 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.

Prepare the batter

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

  2. In a bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.

  3. In another bowl, combine ½ cup of dark molasses, ¾ cup of white sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 2 egg yolks, ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon of cloves, and 1 cup of sour milk.

  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.

  5. Fold in 1½ cups of flour, butter, and a pinch of salt.

Bake and finish

  1. Bake in two or three layers for about 25-30 minutes.

  2. Use the egg whites to make a soft frosting.

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
Cream of tartar
Acidic powder that helps the leavening react and stabilizes the batter.
Dark molasses
Adds moisture, deep flavor, and a darker color to the cake.
Sour milk
Its acidity activates the baking soda and tenderizes the crumb.
Egg yolks
Add richness and emulsify the batter for a tender, moist texture.

The step that matters

Adding the baking soda and acidic wet ingredients together. Baking soda needs an acid to release carbon dioxide. Mixing the batter promptly and not overworking it keeps the gas bubbles in place so the layers rise evenly.

Swap the clove

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, cream, cinnamon, molasses, sugar, egg, 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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