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 ↓
Christmas 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
Chop the raisins into small pieces.
Sift the flour and ensure it is completely dry.
Warm the butter if necessary to melt it, but do not let it become oily.
Make the batter
In a basin, combine the flour, sugar, ginger, and raisins.
Stir in the melted butter, treacle, and whisked eggs, and beat the mixture for 10 minutes.
Dissolve the baking soda in a little water and mix it thoroughly into the dough.
Bake
Butter a cake tin and pour in the mixture.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1½ to 2 hours.
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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Ginger + raisintop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,242 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the cake a tender crumb and moisture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and add structure and moisture to the crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic treacle to produce gas that lightens the cake.
- Treacle
- Adds sweetness, dark colour, moisture and a rich, slightly acidic flavour.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda and mix it in thoroughly. Baking soda must be fully dissolved and evenly mixed so it reacts with the acidic treacle throughout the batter. Unevenly mixed soda leaves pockets that can taste bitter or cause uneven rising and crumb.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, raisin):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, 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.
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