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 ↓
Soy-bean Muffins
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the soy bean meal, sweetening, wheat flour, melted shortening, salt, egg, baking powder, and liquid.
Blend the ingredients until just mixed, ensuring the batter is not too soft.
If using, dust the raisins or chopped dates with flour and fold them into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into muffin tins and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden.
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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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Wheat + raisintop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together163 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Wheat + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,225 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Soy bean meal or flour
- Provides the main body and a nutty, distinctive flavour in place of much of the wheat flour.
- Wheat flour
- Forms the gluten structure that holds the muffins together and gives them a tender crumb.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas as it heats, lifting the batter so the muffins rise.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Sweetening
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown as the muffins bake.
The step that matters
Blend until just mixed. Overmixing develops gluten in the wheat flour, which makes muffins tough and dense. Stop once the dry ingredients are moistened, leaving a slightly lumpy batter.
“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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