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 ↓
Loaf 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).
Cream together the sugar and butter until smooth.
Beat the egg yolks and mix them into the sugar and butter mixture.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Incorporate 3 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar into the mixture.
Add 1 cup of milk and the beaten egg whites, then stir until combined.
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 4 tablespoons of water and add to the mixture.
Fold in the grated nutmeg and the dredged raisins or currants.
Bake
Pour the batter into two loaf pans and bake for about 45-50 minutes.
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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Nutmeg + raisintop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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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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Butter + creamtop 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the batter and whites, beaten to stiff peaks, lighten its crumb.
- Butter
- Fat creamed with sugar adds tenderness and a rich texture to the cake.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps trap air for a lighter texture.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the loaf together as it bakes.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter and stabilizes the beaten egg whites.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to produce gas that makes the loaf rise.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Under-beaten whites won't hold air and the loaf will be dense, while over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy and collapse when folded into the batter.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, flour, cream, milk, raisin):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Capersfits less well
- Jalapenofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, flour, cream, milk, raisin. 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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