Why it works: Raisin and flour 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 ↓
Fig Pound 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. 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 your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the chopped figs, raisins, and grated nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, alternating with the sour milk or cream.
Mix until just combined, then pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake
Bake for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Fig + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together510 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat and tenderness, and creaming it with sugar traps air for a lighter crumb.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown and stay soft.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as the eggs and starches cook.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk or cream to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Sour milk or cream
- Adds moisture and acidity, which activates the baking soda and tenderizes the crumb.
The step that matters
Mix until just combined after adding the dry ingredients. Overmixing once flour meets liquid develops gluten, which makes the cake tough and dense. Stop as soon as no dry flour streaks remain.
Swap the fig
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, raisin, flour, butter, milk, egg, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figthe original
- Lemonfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, raisin, flour, butter, milk, 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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