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 ↓
Hickory-nut Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form.
Cream together the sugar and butter in another bowl until light and fluffy.
Add the milk to the butter mixture and mix well.
Sift together the flour and baking powder, then gradually add to the wet ingredients.
Fold in the beaten egg whites and nut meats gently.
Bake
Pour the batter into prepared cake pans or a loaf pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes for layers or 50-60 minutes for a loaf.
If using a loaf pan, consider adding raisins for extra flavor.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that lifts the cake and gives it a light crumb.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to hold air and add richness and tender texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter to make the cake rise.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a soft, tender crumb when creamed with butter.
- Nut meats
- Add texture and a rich, toasty nut flavor to the crumb.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air in the whipped whites. Stirring hard deflates the foam, so the cake rises less and bakes up denser.
Swap the raisin
The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, milk, flour, meat):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, milk, flour, meat. 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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