Why it works: Almond and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,781 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓
Wedge Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Whisk the whites of five eggs with two cups of sugar, two and one-half cups of flour, one cup of sweet milk, three-fourths cup of butter, three teaspoons of baking powder, and vanilla.
Bake the batter in layers.
Assemble the cake
Between layers, spread icing and layer almonds, raisins, and coconut.
Lay one-half pound of shelled split almonds close in icing, one full cup of raisins, and one coconut, ensuring proper proportions.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the cake a tender crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
- Baking powder
- Produces gas that lifts the batter so the layers rise.
- Flour (in the method)
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's shape as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure and help bind the batter.
The step that matters
Lay one-half pound of shelled split almonds close in icing, one full cup of raisins, and one coconut, ensuring proper proportions.. Filling spread too thick or unevenly can make layers slide and the cake unstable. Spreading the icing evenly and placing the nuts and fruit in a close, balanced layer keeps each slice stable and consistent.
Flavor stand-ins for the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, butter, almond, egg):
- Vanillabetter flavor fit
- Figabout as good a flavor fit
- Coconutabout as good a flavor fit
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, butter, almond, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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