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 ↓
Pork 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, mix together the sugar, strong coffee, molasses, chopped salt pork, and lard until well combined.
Stir in the chopped raisins.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.
Beat the eggs and fold them into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 45-50 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,070 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Provides the starch structure that sets the cake's crumb as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses and coffee to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness with a slight acidity.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries the spice flavors.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and stay moist.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in the coffee before mixing. Baking soda needs an acid, such as the molasses and coffee, to release gas and lift the cake. Mixing it fully into the liquid first spreads it evenly so the rise is consistent rather than patchy.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, coffee, molasses, pork, raisin, flour, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerfits about as well
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, coffee, molasses, pork, raisin, flour, egg. 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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