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 ↓
An Excellent Trifle
Ingredients
Directions
Assemble the base
Layer macaroons and ratafia-drops at the bottom of a dish.
Pour in enough raisin wine to soak them.
Add a cold rich custard made with extra eggs and rice flour, ensuring it is 2-3 inches thick.
Spread a layer of raspberry jam on top.
Top and finish
Whip rich cream with 2 beaten egg whites, sugar, and lemon peel until solid.
Cover the trifle with the whipped cream mixture, preferably made the day before for better flavor.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Raisin + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together565 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Wine + raspberrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together303 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroons
- Form the crisp, absorbent base layer that soaks up the wine.
- Raisin wine
- Moistens the macaroons and ratafia-drops and adds fruity flavor.
- Rich custard
- Provides a thick, creamy layer that adds richness and moisture.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into the cream to help it hold a stiff, stable structure.
- Rich cream
- Forms the fatty, airy topping that gives the trifle its finish.
- Raspberry jam
- Adds sweetness and fruity acidity between the custard and cream.
The step that matters
Whipping the cream and egg white mixture until solid. Cream whips best when cold, and it must be beaten until it holds stiff peaks. Under-whipped cream stays runny and sinks into the custard, while over-whipping turns it grainy and can cause it to separate.
Swap the raspberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, wine, egg, rice, flour, cream, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Raspberrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, wine, egg, rice, flour, cream, sugar. 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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