Name: Fruit Drop Cakes
Ingredients: one pound of butter; one pound of sugar; one pound of currants; three eggs

Why it works: Butter and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,856 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓

Fruit Drop Cakes

Ingredients

one pound of butter
one pound of sugar
one pound of currants
three eggs

Directions

Combine WO pounds of flour, one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one pound of currants and three eggs; flavor with lemon.
Strew tin sheets with flour and powdered sugar and drop in small cakes.
Bake in a quick oven.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

291Calories

7 gProtein

17 gFat

29 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
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 Des Moines. Plymouth church. [from old catalog]. 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.

Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,856 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Currant + eggtop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour (in the method): Provides the structure that holds the drop cakes together as they bake.
Butter: Adds richness and tenderness, as its fat coats flour and softens the crumb.
Sugar: Sweetens the cakes and helps their surface brown in the oven.
Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
Currants: Add fruit flavor and chewy pockets of sweetness throughout the cakes.