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 ↓
Sausage Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Boil the raisins in water for 10 minutes.
Remove 1 cup of water from the raisins and mix in the baking soda.
In a large bowl, combine the boiled raisins, brown sugar, fresh sausage, nutmeg, and the baking soda water.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until well combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 1 hour.
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 + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + sugartop 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh sausage
- Provides fat and savory meaty flavor that gives the cake its richness.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a caramel-like depth of flavor.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in the mixture to help the cake rise and brown.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and moisture, and their sweetness complements the spices.
The step that matters
Mixing in the flour. Once flour is added, gluten begins to develop. Overmixing can make the cake tough and dense, so mix only until the batter is just combined.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, 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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