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 ↓
Lady 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the well-beaten eggs and mix well.
Stir in the milk and blend thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and nutmeg.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.
Fold in the chopped raisins.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, 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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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 give the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic ingredient that reacts with baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps hold air when creamed with butter.
The step that matters
Mixing the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Overmixing once the flour is added develops gluten, which can make the cake tough and dense. Mix only until the flour is just combined, and fold in the raisins gently so the batter keeps its trapped air and rise.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, egg, flour, raisin, cream):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Capersfits less well
- Jalapenofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, egg, flour, raisin, 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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