Name: Short Cake
Ingredients: 1 cup milk; 94 cup cake; 2 cups sugar; 1 cup butter; 1 cup sour milk; 4 cups flour; 1 cup chopped citron; 1 cup walnuts; 1 cup raisins; 1 cup shortening; 1 cup molasses; 1 cup boiling water; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 cup flour sifted 5 times; a cup of sugar; a cup of thick sour cream into which has been stirred j tsp; 2 tsp; 2 tbs; 2 layers; 4 eggs; 1 tsp; 1 heaping cup stoned raisins; 1 grated nutmeg; two loaves; 2 eggs; 5 eggs well beaten; 95 gold cake; 1 scant cup sugar; 1 large tbs

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 ↓

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).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour: Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb together.
Butter: Adds richness and tenderness and keeps the layers moist.
Milk: Hydrates the flour and helps form a soft, tender crumb.
Baking powder (in the method): Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and lightens.

The step that matters

Mix like biscuits. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, making the cake tough. Mix only until the ingredients are just combined so the crumb stays short and tender.

Swap the walnut

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

Almondfits better
Chestnutfits better
Pistachiofits better
Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, butter, flour, raisin, molasses, cream. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
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
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Cake	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Short Cake

Short Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)