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 ↓
Ten Minute Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Two eggs, two tea-cupfuls sugar, two thirds of a cupful but- ter, one tea-spoonful soda, one of cream of tartar in one cupful sweet milk, and flour enough for batter.
GINGER SPONGE CAKE. Half pint of molasses, one cupful butter, one cupful of sour cream, one table-spoonful of ginger, one tea-spoonful of soda, three eggs, five cupfuls of flour, one tea-spoonful cinnamon. — Miss Mary Redmon.
SOFT GINGER CAKE. Two eggs, one tea-cupful sugar, one tea-cupful molasses, one tea-cupful buttermilk, one half tea-cupful butter, four tea-cup- fuJs flour, one tea-spoonful soda, one table-spoonful ginger. — Mrs. WiU Taylor.
EXTRA GINGER CAKE. One and one half pints molasses, five table-spoonfuls ginger, one nutmeg grated, one and one half tea-spoonfuls of pulverized cloves, one and one half of cinnamon, one half tea-spoonful salt.
104 CAKE EECIPES.
two tea-spoonfnls soda, one tea-cupful of lard, one and one half tea-cupfuls sour cream, six eggs well beaten, flour suffi- cient to make a stiff batter. Bake in tin or stove pans. It sliould be thoroughly beaten — the more the better; bake in a hot oven. — Mrs. Morrow.
SUPERIOR GINGER LOAF. Five tea-cupfuls of flour, one tea-cupful of brown sugar, two tea-cupfuls molasses, two tea-cupfuls sour cream, one tea-cupful of butter, six eggs, two table-spoonfuls of ginger, two of ciunar mon, two tearspoonfuls of mace, one of cloves, one of soda, one pound of currants, one pound of raisins. — Mrs. John Ray.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 14 of 15 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 14 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Yogurt | 170g plain Greek | 100 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Mace | 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.
-
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, molasses, butter, cream, flour, raisin, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, molasses, butter, cream, flour, raisin, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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