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 ↓
Fig Pound 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
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 chopped figs, raisins, and grated nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, alternating with the sour milk or cream.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for about 1 hour 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.
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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).
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Fig + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together510 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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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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Fig + raisintop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together737 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air and add richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and moisture, binding the batter as the cake sets.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk or cream to help the cake rise.
- Sour milk or cream
- Adds moisture and acidity that activates the baking soda and tenderizes the crumb.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a caramel flavor to the cake.
The step that matters
Adding the dry ingredients alternately with the sour milk or cream. Alternating additions keep the batter emulsified and prevent overmixing, which would toughen the crumb. The acid in the sour milk must meet the baking soda in the batter for proper rising.
Swap the fig
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, raisin, flour, butter, milk, egg, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figthe original
- Lemonfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, raisin, flour, butter, milk, egg, nutmeg. 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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