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 ↓
Pork Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Dissolve the baking soda in boiling water.
In a large bowl, combine the chopped pork, molasses, sugar, and dissolved baking soda.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until the batter is thick like gingerbread.
Fold in the raisins, currants, and spices.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
-
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the thick batter together as it bakes.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness to the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity of molasses to release gas, helping the cake rise.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps keep the cake moist and tender.
- Pickled pork
- Adds fat and savory richness to the batter.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Gradually add the flour and mix until thick. Adding flour in portions lets you judge the batter's stiffness and avoid lumps. Overmixing once the flour is in develops gluten, which makes the cake tough and dense rather than tender.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, molasses, sugar, flour, raisin):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Applefits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, molasses, sugar, flour, raisin. 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.
You might also like
Roast Pork82 recipes
Molasses Sauce32 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipesThe 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.