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 ↓
187 Washington 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).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, raisins, and brandy and water mixture.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,768 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and add richness and tender texture.
- Eggs
- Add structure and moisture, binding the batter as the cake sets.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic ingredient that works with baking soda to lift the batter and stabilize it.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Baking time and doneness test. Baking soda and cream of tartar give lift only while the batter is fresh, so the cake should go into the oven promptly. Because the dense batter cooks through slowly, testing the center with a toothpick ensures it is set rather than gummy, since underbaked centers collapse as they cool.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, egg, brandy, cream):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits less well
- Apricotfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, egg, brandy, cream. 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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