Why it works: Raisin and flour 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 ↓
Raisin 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter until smooth.
Add the molasses, milk, and eggs, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar or baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until just combined.
Fold in the raisins or currants.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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.
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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Raisin + flourtop 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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown and stay tender.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Molasses
- Adds dark color, moisture, and a deep caramel-like flavor.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as the cake sets.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure of the cake as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to help the cake rise and lighten.
The step that matters
Stirring in the dry ingredients. Once the flour is added, overmixing develops gluten, which makes the cake tough and dense. Stir only until the flour is just combined, leaving small streaks.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, molasses, milk, egg, cream, flour):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits less well
- Strawberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, molasses, milk, egg, cream, flour. 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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