Why it works: Raisin and flour 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 ↓
Fruit 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
Soften the butter near the fire without making it oily.
Line a cake pan with buttered paper.
Seed the raisins.
Wash and dry the currants.
Cut the citron into small, thin slices.
Make the batter
Beat the sugar and 2 eggs to a cream.
Add 2 more eggs and beat for 2 minutes.
Add the remaining egg and beat for another 2 minutes.
Sift in the flour and beat the mixture smooth.
Add the butter and fruit, beat for 1 minute.
Pour into the pan.
Bake and test
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.
Test doneness by inserting a clean straw; if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Butter and flour 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
- Eggs
- Beaten with sugar and flour to build structure and bind the batter as it sets.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together once baked.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Creamed with the eggs for sweetness and to help trap air in the batter.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness, chewy texture and moisture to the cake.
- Currants
- Add tart, concentrated fruit flavour and moisture throughout the crumb.
The step that matters
Beating the eggs and sugar to a cream. Beating sugar and eggs together traps air that gives the cake lift. Under-beating leaves a dense crumb, while the batter needs enough beating to stay smooth and structured.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, raisin, flour):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, raisin, flour. 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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