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 ↓
A Rich Fruit Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the following articles before you begin the cake: four pounds of flour dried and sifted, four pounds of butter washed to free it from salt, two pounds of loaf sugar pounded, a quarter of a pound of mace, the same of nutmegs powdered.
Wash four pounds of currants clean, pick and dry them.
Blanch one pound of sweet almonds and cut them in very thin slices.
Stone two pounds of raisins, cut them in two, and strew a little flour over to prevent their sticking together.
Slice two pounds of citron thin.
Make the cake
Break thirty eggs, separating the yolks and whites.
Work the butter to a cream with your hand; put in alternately flour, sugar, and the froth from both whites and yolks, which must be beaten separately, and only the froth put in.
When all are mixed and the cake looks very light, add the spice, with half a pint of brandy, the currants and almonds.
Butter the mould well, pour in part of the cake, strew over it some raisins and citron—do this until all is in.
Bake and serve
Set it in a well heated oven.
When it has risen and the top is coloured, cover it with paper.
Bake for three hours.
Ice the cake.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Mace | not in our table | 0 |
| Brandy | not in our table | 0 |
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).
-
Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
-
Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Creamed with the sugar to trap air and give a rich, tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it stay soft and tender.
- Eggs (in the method)
- Their beaten froth lightens the batter and helps it rise.
- Currants
- Add sweetness and chewy fruit pieces throughout the cake.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and flavour to the batter.
The step that matters
Work the butter to a cream and add the egg froth alternately with the flour and sugar. Beating air into the butter and keeping the separately beaten egg froth light gives the cake its rise. Adding the dry ingredients gently, alternating with the froth, keeps that trapped air from collapsing.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, currant, almond, raisin, brandy):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, currant, almond, raisin, brandy. 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.
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