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 ↓
Figs in Cookery
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and eggs, mixing well.
Gradually stir in the flour until just combined.
Fold in the chopped figs and stoned raisins.
Pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake for about 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Assemble the fig-layer cake
For the fig-layer cake, bake two white cakes about an inch thick.
Cover one cake with white icing and the other with icing mixed with chopped figs and lemon juice.
Stack the cakes with a layer of figs in between.
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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Fig + raisintop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together737 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + figtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,026 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Fig + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together763 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as it bakes and sets.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a light, fluffy texture when creamed with butter.
- Figs
- Add moisture, sweetness and chewy texture to the batter and the filling.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness, moisture and chewy pockets throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the chopped figs and raisins. Heavy fruit can sink to the bottom of the batter if overmixed or poured too early, and overmixing after adding flour develops gluten and toughens the crumb. Fold gently until the fruit is just evenly distributed.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, egg, flour, fig, raisin):
- Vanillafits better
- Peachfits better
- Apricotfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, egg, flour, fig, 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.
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