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 ↓
Imperial 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 your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy, then gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until light, then add to the butter mixture.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold into the mixture.
Add the lemon juice and rind, then fold in the chopped almonds, citron, raisins, and part of the flour.
Gradually add the remaining flour until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick 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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and whites, whipped to stiff peaks, lighten the batter and help it rise.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, beaten with butter, helps hold air for a light texture.
- Almonds
- Add body, texture and a nutty flavor throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Folding the egg whites into the batter. Whipped whites hold the air that lightens the cake. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from deflating before the batter reaches the oven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, egg, almond, raisin):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, egg, almond, raisin. 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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