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 ↓
Raisin Smash
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.
Make the raisin smash
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Gradually add the powdered sugar, then mix in the chopped raisins and minced almonds.
Flavor with vanilla extract.
Make and bake the cake
In a separate bowl, combine sugar, flour, sweet milk, and baking powder.
Pour the batter into two square tin pans.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
Assemble
Layer the cakes with the raisin smash icing in between.
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 + almondtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Almond + vanillatop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,961 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a stiff froth, they give the raisin smash a light, airy structure.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure of the cake crumb as the batter sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake batter rise and become light.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the raisin smash and helps give it a smooth, thick body.
- Seedless chopped raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness to the raisin smash filling.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth. Egg whites must be whipped until they hold stiff peaks; under-whipped whites give a dense, flat filling, while over-whipped whites turn dry and grainy.
“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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