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 ↓
Coffee 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 and mix
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, combine molasses, baking soda, sugar, mixed spices, and egg.
Stir in cold coffee and raisins.
Add lard and mix until well combined.
Gradually add flour until the batter is not too stiff.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes 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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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, dark color and a deep flavor to the cake.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses acidity to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps give the cake its structure.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps it moist.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps with browning and moisture.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until the batter is not too stiff. Flour forms gluten as it is mixed, so adding too much or overmixing makes the cake dense and tough. Adding it gradually lets you stop once the batter is just right.
“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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