Name: Fig Cake
Ingredients: three pints flour; two cups sugar; two-thirds cup butter; two-thirds cup sweet milk; three cups flour; one cup sugar; three-fourths cup butter; half cup sweet milk; half cups flour; one pound halved figs; 2 cups sugar; 3 cups flour; 1 cup cold water; 1 cup raisins; 1 cup figs; one pint sweet milk; 1 pound flour; 1 pound butter; 2 pounds currants; 2 pounds raisins; 3 pounds raisins; 1 pound currants; 1 pound white sugar; 1 pound citron; eight eggs; three heaping tea-spoons baking powder thoroughly sifted; half tea-spoons baking powder sifted in a little more than one; seven eggs thoroughly beaten; one whole egg; one tea- spoon allspice

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).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Fig + raisintop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together737 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Milk + figtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,026 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Forms the cake structure once its starch sets during baking.
Eggs: Provide structure and richness, and the whites add lift to the batter.
Butter: Adds tenderness and richness to the crumb.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps brown the crust.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter so the cakes rise.
Figs: Add sweetness, moisture and chewy texture to the filling.

The step that matters

While warm, assemble the cakes with frosting. Freshly baked cakes are soft and fragile, so stacking and frosting them while warm can crumble the layers. The record gives this step as written, so the timing matters for a clean result.

Swap the currant

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

Vanillafits better
Peachfits better
Apricotfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, milk, fig, raisin, 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.

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
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Fig	1 medium (50g)	37
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Water	not in our table	0
Cake	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0
Brandy	not in our table	0
Rose	not in our table	0

Fig Cake

Fig Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batters

Bake and assemble

Make the filling and layers

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)