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 ↓
Plum Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Weigh the butter and set it aside.
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.
Reserve some flour to coat the raisins, then fold the flour mixture into the batter.
Gently fold in the raisins coated in flour.
Pour the batter into a deep cake pan.
Bake
Bake for 1.5 hours 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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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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Flour + milktop 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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps tenderize it when creamed with butter.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's main structure as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs one at a time. Adding eggs gradually, mixing well after each, lets the fat and liquid emulsify without curdling. This keeps the batter smooth and able to hold air, giving an even crumb.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg. 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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