Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Delicious Raisin Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the sweet milk and the egg yolks, mixing well.
In another bowl, combine the baking powder and flour, then gradually add to the wet mixture.
Make the raisin filling
In a saucepan, dissolve 1¼ cups of sugar in enough water to cover it, then boil until it reaches a string consistency.
Slowly pour the hot syrup over the beaten egg whites while continuing to beat until cool.
Fold the chopped raisins into the egg white mixture.
Assemble and bake
Pour the cake batter into a greased baking pan and top with the raisin filling.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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.
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the main structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and gives a rich flavour.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and moisture, while whites help set the structure and lift.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep the crumb tender and moist.
- Raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy pieces throughout the filling.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot syrup over the egg whites. The hot syrup must be poured slowly while beating so it cooks and stabilises the whites into a foam; pouring too fast can deflate them or leave the filling loose.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, egg, flour):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, egg, flour. 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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