Why it works: Raisin and walnut work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 647 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Raisin Roll
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.
Roll the pastry thin.
Spread the pastry with raisins, walnuts, sugar, and butter.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until brown.
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.
-
Raisin + walnuttop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together647 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Walnut + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,832 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Raisin + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,630 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (walnut, butter):
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Avocadofits better
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against walnut, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipes