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Dessert

German Coffee Cake

A yeasted cake with raisins, topped with butter‑sugar‑cinnamon glaze and almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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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 ↓

German Coffee Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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 dough

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, and salt; add scalded milk.

  2. When lukewarm, stir in dissolved yeast, beaten egg, and enough flour to make a very thick batter. Beat thoroughly until smooth, then fold in raisins.

  3. Cover and let rise until light.

Shape and top

  1. Spread dough in a buttered baking pan to 1 inch thick; cover and let rise again.

  2. Before baking, brush the top with beaten egg.

  3. In a saucepan, melt ⅓ cup butter, then mix in ½ cup sugar and 1½ teaspoons cinnamon. When sugar is partially melted, add 1½ tablespoons flour and mix well.

  4. Spread this mixture on the cake and sprinkle with blanched almonds.

Bake

  1. Bake for 25 minutes at 350°F (175°C).

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,514 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the structure of the thick batter so the dough holds its shape while rising.
Yeast
Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and turn light.
Egg
Adds structure and richness, and the beaten egg brushed on top helps the surface brown.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb, and helps the topping become rich.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the topping caramelize and brown in the oven.
Raisins
Add pockets of sweetness and moisture throughout the dough.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise until light. Yeast needs time and warmth to produce enough gas for a light, airy crumb. Under-proofed dough bakes dense, while the second rise gives the final texture.

“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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