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 ↓
Nut 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.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together until light.
Add the beaten eggs and milk, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda, then add to the wet mixture.
Fold in the raisins and walnuts.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 35 minutes.
Frost if desired.
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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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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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
- Pastry flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and carries flavor through the batter.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter and works with baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic ingredients to release gas that lifts the batter.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a soft, tender texture when creamed with butter.
The step that matters
Creaming the butter and sugar until light. Beating air into the fat and sugar creates small bubbles that expand in the oven and help lift the cake. Under-creaming leaves a denser crumb.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, flour, egg, raisin, cream):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Pistachiofits better
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, flour, egg, raisin, cream. 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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