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 ↓
Washington 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 the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the sour cream and grated nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.
Fold in the raisins and citron.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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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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).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown and stay soft.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as the cake sets in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's main structure once heated and set.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour cream's acidity to leaven the batter so it rises.
- Sour cream
- Adds moisture and tang, and its acidity activates the baking soda.
The step that matters
Combining the dry ingredients with the wet mixture. Mixing only until just combined keeps the batter tender, because overmixing flour develops gluten and makes the cake tough.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, flour, sugar, egg, cream, butter):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Capersfits less well
- Jalapenofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, flour, sugar, egg, cream, butter. 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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