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Spiced Raisin Loaf

A yeast-raised loaf with raisins, spices, and brown sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Spiced Raisin Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the dough

  1. In a bowl, combine warm milk and yeast; let it stand in a warm place until light.

  2. Add butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, eggs, and raisins; mix well.

  3. Gradually add flour to form a soft dough.

  4. Knead the dough until smooth and soft, then place it in a warm area to rise.

Shape and bake

  1. Once risen, shape the dough into a loaf and place it in a loaf pan.

  2. Let it rise again until it reaches the top of the pan.

  3. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for one hour.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 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

Yeast
Ferments in the warm milk to produce gas that makes the loaf rise.
Eggs
Add structure and richness to the dough as they set during baking.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and richer flavor.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crust brown.
Raisins
Provide pockets of sweetness and moisture throughout the loaf.
Flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its structure.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise again until it reaches the top of the pan. Under-proofing leaves a dense loaf, while over-proofing can collapse the structure. Yeast gas must fill the gluten network to give an even, light crumb.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, egg):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Clovethe original
  4. Gingerfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, egg. 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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