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 ↓
Cream Fruit Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Butter and line your baking pan with parchment paper.
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, mixing well.
Fold in the chopped raisins, almonds, and citron.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and gently fold them into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30-40 minutes, 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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Raisin + almondtop 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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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Flour
- Gluten and starch build the cake's structure as it bakes.
- Butter
- Fat tenderizes the crumb and adds richness and flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps the creamed butter hold air for a tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Proteins bind and set the batter, and whipped whites add lift.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, lifting the batter as it bakes.
- Almonds
- Add nutty flavor and a little texture to the crumb.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whipped whites trap air that expands in the oven and lightens the cake. Stirring vigorously or overmixing knocks out that air, so the cake rises less and turns dense.
“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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