Name: Cake Without Eggs
Ingredients: one pint of sifted flour; one pound of raisins seeded; one teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon; two cups of sugar; two-thirds cup of butter; two-thirds cup of sweet milk; two cups of flour; one cup of cornstarch; two teaspoonfuls baking powder; three cupfuls of sugar; four cups of sifted flour one tablespoonful of baking powder; two cups of fine white sugar; a cup of sifted flour one-teaspoonful of nutmeg; a teaspoonful of soda is dissolved; a cupful of milk; one teacupful of butter; three teacupfuls of sugar; one pint of thick sour cream; seven eggs well beaten; three eggs; eight eggs very stiff; one tablespoonful of baking powder; four eggs beaten to a very stiff froth; nutmeg; cinnamon

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 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 + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together11,917 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter: Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the cake a tender, rich crumb.
Sour cream: Adds moisture and acidity, which reacts with the soda to lift the batter.
Soda: Reacts with the sour cream's acidity to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Flour: Builds the cake's structure as its starch sets during baking.
Raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.

The step that matters

Adding the soda-dissolved sour cream last. Stirring too long after the liquid goes in overdevelops the flour's gluten and deflates the gas from the soda, making the cake dense. Mix only until combined and bake immediately.

Swap the raisin

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

Vanillafits about as well
Raisinthe original
Figfits less well
Coconutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, cinnamon, sugar, butter, milk, nutmeg, cream. 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
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6

Cake Without Eggs