Name: Raised Cake
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar; 1 cup milk; ¾ cup yeast (or 1 cup water if using compressed yeast); 1 cup butter; 2 eggs; 1 cup floured raisins; Other fruit (optional)

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Raised Cake

Ingredients

Directions

In a bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk, and ¾ cup yeast. If using compressed yeast, add enough water to make 1 cup.
Stir the mixture until stiff and let it stand overnight.
The next morning, add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup butter, and 2 eggs. Beat well.
Fold in 1 cup floured raisins and any other desired fruit.
Divide the mixture into 2 large loaf pans.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,155 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).