Name: Egoless Fruit Cake
Ingredients: one cup sugar; 2 tablespoons of butter; 1 cup chopped raisin; 1 cup sour milk; 1 teaspoon soda; 2 cups flour; three-fourths cup butter; 2 cups sugar; 1 cup sweet milk; 3 cups iglehart's swandown cake flour; 1 tea- spoon each cloves; 3 rounding tea- spoons baking powder; 8 eggs

Why it works: Raisin and flour 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 ↓

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 + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,070 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Milk + teatop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together738 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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

What each ingredient does

Butter: Adds fat that softens the crumb and carries flavour.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps keep it moist and lightly browned.
Flour: Forms the structure that holds the cake's shape as it bakes.
Eggs: Whites beaten to a foam trap air that helps the cake rise and gives it a light texture.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter and heat, lifting the cake as it bakes.
Baking soda: Reacts with the sour milk's acid to produce gas, helping the cake rise.

The step that matters

Adding the flour and beaten egg whites alternately. Beaten egg whites hold air that makes the cake light. Overmixing once the flour is in develops gluten and deflates the foam, leaving a dense cake. Mix gently and only until combined.

Swap the clove

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

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Gingerfits better
Clovethe original

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Raisin	1 small box (28g)	85
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7

Egoless Fruit Cake