Name: Tumbler Cake
Ingredients: one-half pound raisins; one-fourth pound currants; four eggs; one tumbler sugar; one tumbler butter; half tumbler molasses; one tea- spoon saleratus

Why it works: Raisin and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,180 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, creamy. The science ↓

Tumbler Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Combine eggs, sugar, butter, molasses, milk, salt, spices, raisins, currants, and flour until the batter has usual consistency.
Bake for one and one-fourth hours in a slow oven.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

349Calories

7 gProtein

17 gFat

44 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49

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

By Home for the Friendless (Chicago, Ill.). Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

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.

Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Currant + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,856 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Provide structure and richness, helping the cake set as it bakes.
Butter: Adds fat for tenderness and a rich flavor in the crumb.
Molasses: Adds moisture, deep sweetness, and a darker color to the cake.
Raisins: Add chewy sweetness and fruit bits throughout the cake.
Currants: Add tart, concentrated fruit flavor and small chewy pockets throughout.
Baking soda (in the method): Reacts with the molasses's acidity to help the cake rise.

Swap the currant

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

Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Lemonfits better
Currantthe original

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