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 ↓
Black 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, beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.
In another bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture and mix well.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the raisins, almonds, currants, and citron, then dredge with a little flour.
Fold the fruit mixture into the batter.
Stir in the molasses, brandy, spices, baking soda, and milk until well combined.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 1.5 to 2 hours, 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.
-
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
-
Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
-
Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whites add lift when beaten and folded in; yolks enrich the batter and help bind it.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and gives the cake a tender, rich crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and its molasses notes deepen the color and flavor.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that helps the cake rise and darken.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep, slightly bitter sweetness.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold air only when beaten to stiff peaks. Folding gently keeps that air in the batter, so the cake rises lightly instead of collapsing or turning dense.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, flour, raisin, almond, molasses):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, flour, raisin, almond, molasses. 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.
You might also like
Ginger Cookies213 recipes
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Ginger Cake93 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.