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 ↓
Dutch Apple or Dried Apple Fruit Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a steady oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the apples
Soak the dried apples overnight in cold water to cover.
In the morning, simmer the apples with molasses until soft, about 2 hours.
Make the batter
Once cooled, add butter, eggs, sugar, milk, flour, and baking soda.
Beat the mixture well for 2 to 3 minutes.
Bake
Bake in a steady oven at 350°F (175°C) for at least 30 minutes.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Apple + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,104 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Dried apples
- Provide fruit flavour and moisture, softened by soaking and simmering into the batter.
- Molasses
- Adds dark colour, deep sweetness and moisture to the cake.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in molasses to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
The step that matters
Let the apple mixture cool before adding the other ingredients. Adding eggs or butter to a hot mixture can cause them to scramble or melt unevenly, which changes the batter's texture. Cooling first keeps the emulsion smooth and lets the baking soda react as intended.
Swap the raisin
The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, molasses, butter, egg, sugar, milk, flour):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits about as well
- Peachfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, molasses, butter, egg, sugar, milk, 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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