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 ↓
English Walnut and Raisin 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).
Cut the raisins in half.
Finely chop the walnut meats using a rolling pin.
Dredge the raisins and walnuts in flour.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.
Add the beaten egg yolks to the creamed mixture.
Add the dredged raisins and walnuts to the mixture with enough milk to moisten.
Dissolve the baking powder in the remaining milk.
Add the vanilla to the mixture.
Stir the mixture until combined.
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Bake
Pour the batter into a well-greased tube pan.
Bake for about 1 hour.
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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Walnut + vanillatop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,730 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Raisin + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together782 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the batter, and whipped whites lighten it and help it rise.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and gives the cake a tender, rich texture.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter to make the cake rise.
- Walnuts
- Add nutty flavour and a bit of crunch to the crumb.
- Raisins
- Add moisture and sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Whites hold air that lightens the batter. Folding gently keeps that air in, while stirring hard would deflate it and leave a denser cake.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, egg, raisin, meat, vanilla):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, egg, raisin, meat, vanilla. 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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