Name: A Rich Fruit Cake
Ingredients: 4 pounds all-purpose flour, dried and sifted; 4 pounds unsalted butter, washed to remove salt; 2 pounds loaf sugar, pounded; ¼ pound ground mace; ¼ pound ground nutmeg; 4 pounds currants, cleaned and dried; 1 pound sweet almonds, blanched and sliced thin; 2 pounds raisins, stoned and halved; 2 pounds citron, sliced thin; 30 eggs, separated; ½ pint brandy

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 ↓

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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,781 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Nutmeg + almondtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,115 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,557 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 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.
Unsalted butter: Adds richness and a tender crumb by carrying fat through the batter.
Loaf sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps the batter brown during baking.
Eggs: Add structure and lift, with the whites and yolks building the batter's airy texture.
Currants: Add moisture and concentrated sweetness to the crumb.
Raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.

The step that matters

Covering with paper once the top is colored. The top browns and can darken or burn during the long bake, so covering it with paper shields it while the center finishes cooking.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, nutmeg, currant, almond, raisin):

Cinnamonfits better
Cardamomfits better
Allspicefits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, nutmeg, currant, almond, raisin. 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.

A Rich Fruit Cake

A Rich Fruit Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

Layer and bake

Finish