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 ↓
Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Two cups brown sugar, three-quarters pound butter, one cup molasses, one of strong coffee, one teaspoonful soda, one of cloves, one of cinnamon, one nutmeg, four eggs, one pound five ounces flour, and one pound chopped raisins. Cream the butter and sugar, put soda in the molasses, then the coffee.
Four eggs beaten very light, three teacups of white sugar, one of milk, five tablespoonsful of melted butter, three and a half teaspoonsful Royal Baking Powder sifted in the flour, one nutmeg grated, flour enough to roll out. Cut in round cakes, take a piece out of the centre of each with pepper-box top. Boil in lard, and dip in sugar while hot.
One egg, one teacup of thick cream, half a teacup sugar, one teaspoonful of Royal Baking Powder, flour sufficient to make a dough. Spices to taste. Boil it in hot lard.
DOUGHNUTS.
Two and a half pounds flour, one and a half pounds sugar, four ounces butter, three eggs, two nutmegs, a little mace, one teacupful yeast, half a pint milk made into rising. They can be risen with acid and soda, a large teaspoon and a half of each to this quantity ; double of acid, or two teaspoonsful of Royal Baking Powder.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| 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.
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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, molasses, flour, raisin, egg, cream):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Jalapenofits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, molasses, flour, raisin, egg, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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