Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Fruit Biscuit
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Combine one coffee cup sugar, one cup butter, one cup raisins (seedless are best), one egg, and three teaspoonfuls baking powder.
Flavor with vanilla and lemon extract to taste.
Chop raisins finely.
Shape and bake
Roll out and cut thin with a biscuit cutter.
Bake in a dripping pan with a greased paper in the bottom of tin.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 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 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Coffee | 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.
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Raisin + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together487 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the biscuit rich and tender.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the biscuit brown in the oven.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and gives it structure as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the biscuits rise and lighten.
- Raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy moisture throughout the biscuit.
The step that matters
Roll out and cut thin. Thin dough bakes through quickly and turns crisp, while thick dough stays soft and cakey in the middle. Even thickness also helps the biscuits bake at the same rate, so some do not burn while others stay raw.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, coffee, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Bananafits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, coffee, sugar, 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.
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