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 ↓
Minnehaha' Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cake
In a bowl, combine one and a half cups granulated sugar, half cup butter stirred to a cream, whites of six eggs, two teaspoons cream tartar, and two cups flour.
Add one teaspoon soda to half cup sweet milk.
Bake in three layers.
Make the filling
For filling, take a teacup sugar and a little water, boil together until it is brittle when dropped in cold water.
Remove from stove and stir quickly into the well-beaten white of one egg.
Add to this a cup of stoned raisins chopped fine.
Place between layers and over the top.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
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).
-
Butter + milktop 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).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + teatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together738 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to give the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- Egg whites
- Whip up to trap air and give the layers structure and lift.
- Cream of tartar
- Stabilises the whipped whites and helps the cake stay light and fine-textured.
- Soda (in the method)
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to release gas, helping the layers rise.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure once mixed and baked.
The step that matters
Boiling the sugar for the filling. Sugar syrup must reach the brittle stage to set firm; undercooked syrup stays sticky and runny, while overcooked syrup turns bitter and hard. Stir quickly once off the heat so the syrup does not crystallise before it meets the egg white.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, cream, flour, milk, egg, tea):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinthe original
- Peachfits about as well
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, cream, flour, milk, egg, tea. 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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.