Name: Bread or Raised Cake
Ingredients: two cupfuls of raised dough; two cups of sugar creamed together; two tablespoonfuls of milk; one tablespoonful of cinnamon; one cup of raisins; three pounds dry flour; one pound sweet butter; one pound sugar; three pounds stoned raisins; two pounds currants; one pound citron; one tablespoonful allspice; one teaspoonful cloves; two tablespoonfuls cinnamon; three teaspoonfuls of baking powder to the flour; three cupfuls of dark brown sugar; one pound of raisins; one teaspoonful of cloves; one teaspoonful of mace; four cupfuls of sifted flour alternately; a cup of butter; a teaspoonful of cloves; a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a tablespoonful of water; a tablespoonful of water; a pound of citron cut in thin strips; a cupful of cooking molasses; a cupful of sour milk; three eggs; one even teaspoonful of soda dissolved in two tablespoonfuls of milk; twelve eggs

Why it works: Cinnamon and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,536 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter: Adds richness and a tender crumb through fat creamed into the dough.
Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure, with beaten whites lightening the crumb.
Raised dough: Provides the yeast-risen base that gives the cake its lift and texture.
Raisins: Add chewy sweetness and fruit pieces throughout the cake.
Soda: Reacts with the acidic milk to help the batter rise and lighten.

The step that matters

Beat the whites and raisins in last, then beat hard. Folding beaten egg whites in at the end keeps air in the batter, which lightens the crumb. Beating too gently or too early can deflate the foam and leave the cake dense.

Swap the currant

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

Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Lemonfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, cinnamon, raisin, flour, butter, allspice. 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
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
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
Mace	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Brandy	not in our table	0

Bread or Raised Cake