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 ↓
Coffee 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 the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream together the sugar, molasses, and butter.
Stir in the coffee until well combined.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until smooth.
Fold in the raisins, baking soda, and allspice.
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake
Bake for 30-40 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.
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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Raisin + allspicetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,475 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
-
Sugar + molassestop 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).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown and stay moist.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep, slightly bitter sweetness.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the baking soda. Baking soda starts reacting as soon as it meets the acidic molasses and liquid, so the batter should go into the oven promptly to keep the rise strong.
Swap the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, butter, coffee, flour, raisin):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Allspicethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, butter, coffee, flour, 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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