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
Layer macaroons and ratafia drops in the bottom of a dish.
Pour enough raisin wine over them to soak.
Add a layer of cold rich custard, about 2-3 inches thick.
Spread a layer of raspberry jam on top.
Top and serve
Whip the cream with the beaten egg whites, sugar, lemon peel, and raisin wine until fluffy.
Cover the trifle with the whipped cream.
For best flavor, prepare the cream a day in advance.
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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Raspberry + lemontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,109 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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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 + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Wine + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,157 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroons (in the method)
- Form the crisp, absorbent base layer that soaks up the wine.
- Ratafia drops
- Add almond-like sweetness and flavor to the soaked base layer.
- Raisin wine
- Moistens the base and adds fruity, aromatic flavor throughout.
- Cold rich custard
- Provides a thick, creamy layer that gives the trifle its body.
- Rich cream
- Whipped into a light, airy topping that adds richness and fat.
- 2 egg whites
- Whipped with the cream to add lightness and volume to the topping.
The step that matters
Whipping the cream and egg whites. Whipped cream and egg whites trap air in their proteins and fat, so they become fluffy. Overwhipping cream can turn it grainy or butter-like, and under-whipping leaves a runny topping that will not hold its shape.
Swap the raspberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, wine, egg, flour, cream, sugar, lemon):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Orangefits about as well
- Raspberrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, wine, egg, flour, cream, sugar, lemon. 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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