Why it works: Flour and raisin 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 ↓
Lincoln Cake
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
Dissolve the yeast in 2 cups of tepid water.
In a clean bowl, stir in enough flour to make a soft dough.
Knead the dough well and cover it in a warm place to rise.
Once risen, place the remaining flour on a board and make a well in the center.
Enrich and shape
Add the butter and sugar to the well and rub together until smooth.
Incorporate the eggs and a piece of the risen dough, mixing well.
Add the saffron infused in ½ cup of warm water and mix thoroughly.
Fold in the chopped raisins and cleaned currants.
Transfer the mixture to a well‑greased mold or two smaller ones.
Bake
Let it rise again, then bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1½ to 2 hours.
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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + saffrontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + saffrontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together447 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the dough's structure, providing the framework that holds the cake together.
- Yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help bind the batter together.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps browning during baking.
- Malaga raisins
- Add sweetness, moisture and chewy texture throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Let it rise again before baking. The second rise lets the yeast build gas and lighten the crumb. Baking before the dough has risen enough can leave the cake dense.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, egg, raisin, sugar, saffron):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, egg, raisin, sugar, saffron. 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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