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 ↓
Luncheon 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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the molasses.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and dark spices.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, alternating with the warm milk.
Fold in the chopped raisins.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes or 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.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and creaming it with sugar traps air for a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a light, fluffy creamed base.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and moisture as they set.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, deep sweetness and dark color to the cake.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
The step that matters
Adding the dry ingredients with the milk. Alternating flour and milk in small additions keeps the batter smooth and prevents overmixing, which would develop gluten and make the cake tough.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, molasses, milk):
- Raisinthe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Peachfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, molasses, milk. 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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