Name: Rich Fruit Cake
Ingredients: one pound flour; one pound sugar; one fourth pound butter; two pounds raisins; two pounds currants; one nutmeg

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 ↓

Rich Fruit Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Combine one pound flour, one pound sugar, one fourth pound butter, thirteen eggs, two pounds raisins, two pounds currants, one of citron, one wine glassful brandy, two of wine, one nutmeg, and one teaspoonful of cinnamon.
Mix flour and fruit well.
Beat the eggs, then stir in all the ingredients.

Bake

Bake three hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

680Calories

14 gProtein

14 gFat

125 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12

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

By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo. 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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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 structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown and stay tender.
Butter: Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Eggs (in the method): Bind the batter and set into structure as the cake bakes.
Raisins: Add sweetness and a moist, chewy texture.
Currants: Add sweetness and a moist, chewy texture.

Swap the currant

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

Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Lemonfits better
Currantthe original

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