Why it works: Nutmeg and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,377 recipes. Both carry alpha-terpineol, which smells lilac, floral. The science ↓
Quick Loaf 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 the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the egg and mix well.
Stir in the sweet milk, baking soda, and nutmeg.
Fold in the raisins or currants if desired.
Pour the batter into a deep cake pan.
Bake
Bake for about 30-40 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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Nutmeg + raisintop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the cake a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps hold air for a lighter texture.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and moisture as the cake sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in the batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and liquid that hydrates the flour and helps form the crumb.
The step that matters
Creaming the butter and sugar. Beating the fat and sugar together traps tiny air pockets that expand in the oven and lighten the crumb. Under-creaming leaves a dense, heavy cake.
Swap the raisin
The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, egg, butter, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, egg, butter, nutmeg. 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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