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 ↓
With Raisins
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, gradually mix the flour with the tepid milk until smooth.
Add the melted butter, beaten eggs, golden syrup, and baking powder, mixing well.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into two buttered pans, about 1 inch deep.
Sprinkle the raisins evenly over the batter.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until light brown.
Serve in squares with lemon syrup or any pudding sauce.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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
- Forms the main structure of the cake as it sets in the oven.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich flavor.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Golden syrup
- Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown during baking.
- Raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy pockets throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Pour the batter into buttered pans at about 1 inch deep. Spreading the batter to a consistent depth helps it bake evenly, so the centre sets without the edges over-browning. Buttering the pans prevents sticking when the cake is cut and removed.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, butter, syrup, egg):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, butter, syrup, 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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