Name: Fruit Layer Cake
Ingredients: 1 cup butter; 2 cups sugar; 1 cup sour milk; 1 pound raisins; 2 pounds currants; 2 teaspoons soda; 4 eggs; 1 table- spoon cinnamon

Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Fruit Layer Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Mrs. H. Moellencamp.
1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup sour milk, 4 eggs, 1 table- spoon cinnamon, 1 pound raisins, 2 pounds currants, \ pound chopped citron, 2 teaspoons soda, flour enough for stiff batter.
I3ake in layers and put together with white icing.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

446Calories

15 gProtein

25 gFat

43 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Swap the currant

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

Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Applefits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, raisin, egg, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.