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 ↓
White Fruit 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Alternately stir in some of the flour and the beaten egg whites into the creamed mixture.
Toss the raisins and sliced citron in the remaining flour, then fold them into the batter.
Add the vanilla extract and mix well.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake 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.
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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together782 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they give the cake an airy, light structure.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Granulated sugar
- Creamed with butter to trap air and adds sweetness and tender browning.
- Unsalted butter
- Creamed with sugar to add richness, tenderness, and flavor.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Beaten egg whites hold air that gives lift. Stirring them in too vigorously deflates the foam, leaving a dense cake. Alternating with flour and folding gently keeps as much air as possible.
“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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