Why it works: Sugar and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Easy Raisin Bread
four loavesIngredients
Directions
Make the dough
Dissolve one yeast cake in cold water.
Add one quart warm water, one teaspoon of lard, one cup of sugar, one cup of raisins, one teaspoon of salt, and two beaten eggs.
Stir in flour, as much as possible by stirring, do not knead.
Do this at noon; at night run a knife around the sides and through the dough several times.
Shape and bake
In the morning, flour the hands and pinch out enough dough for each loaf.
Put each loaf in separate pans, let rise, and bake.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Cake | 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.
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.
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Raisin + teatop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together64 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Raisin + eggtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,556 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + teatop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,204 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
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness to the dough crumb.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and softens texture.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness, moisture and chewy pockets throughout the loaf.
The step that matters
Stirring in the flour without kneading. Flour must be stirred in only until combined, since kneading develops gluten and can make the bread tough. The long rest with scoring through the dough lets gluten and yeast develop gently, so the texture stays light.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, tea, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Peachfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, tea, 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.
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