Name: Guyana Black Cake
Ingredients: 1 1/2 lb. flour,; 1 lb. butter,; 1 lb. dark sugar,; 1 1/2 lb. raisin,; 1 1/2 lb. prunes,; 1 doz. eggs,; 1 lb. walnuts,; 1/2 tsp. baking powder,; 1/2 bottle fruit juice.

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 ↓

Guyana Black Cake

Ovena slow oven at 300 degrees

Time2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Soak fruit in the fruit juice for a month.
Grease and doubly line an 8" cake pan.

Make the batter

Cream sugar and butter.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg.
Add fruits and stir well.
Sift flour and baking powder and mix together.
Fold flour into liquid ingredients a little at a time.
Mix to a soft dropping consistency (using more fruit juice if needed).
Add 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and vanilla.

Bake and finish

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake in a slow oven at 300 degrees for 2 hours.
Sprinkle fruit juice over cake immediately after it is baked.
Repeat 3 or 4 times.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

795Calories

21 gProtein

21 gFat

131 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Raisin	1 small box (28g)	85
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Prune	not in our table	0
Fruit Juice	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,873 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + walnuttop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together647 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Flour and butter 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: Provides the starch that sets into the cake's structure as it bakes.
Butter: Adds richness and a tender crumb, especially when creamed with sugar.
Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure and lift as they set in the oven.
Dark sugar: Sweetens the cake and adds moisture and deep molasses flavour.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter to help the cake rise.
Raisins: Add chewy sweetness and moisture as they soften in the batter.

The step that matters

Fold the flour in gently, a little at a time. Folding keeps the air beaten into the butter and eggs intact. Vigorous or heavy mixing develops gluten in the flour, which can make the cake dense and tough.

Swap the walnut

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

Almondfits better
Chestnutfits better
Pistachiofits better
Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, raisin, egg. 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.

White Cake431 recipes

Pound Cake373 recipes

Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes

Spice Cake344 recipes

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Guyana Black Cake