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 Bread
2 loavesIngredients
Directions
Make the dough
Set a sponge at night as for bread.
In the morning, mix the bread and reserve enough for 2 loaves.
Add sugar, lard, spices, egg, raisins, and enough flour to form a stiff dough.
Knead the dough and let it rise twice.
Shape and bake
Shape into 2 loaves and let rise again until light.
Bake until golden brown.
Rub milk and sugar on the tops when baked.
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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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Sponge
- Starter that gives the dough its yeast-driven rise and open crumb.
- Lard
- Fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps the loaves soft.
- Sugar
- Sweetness, and helps the crust brown during baking.
- Egg
- Adds richness and helps bind the dough.
- Seeded raisins
- Sweet fruit pieces that give the bread its flavor and studded texture.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the stiff dough its structure.
The step that matters
Let the dough rise until light before baking. The dough needs enough time for the yeast in the sponge to produce gas and expand the gluten structure. Underproofed loaves stay dense and heavy, while the rise before baking determines the final lightness of the crumb.
“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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