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 ↓
Genoa 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 the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the flour, milk, lemon rind, and brandy or sherry if using.
Fold in the mixed dried fruit.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a greased oblong baking tin (10x8 inches).
Sprinkle chopped almonds on top.
Bake for about 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
Let cool before turning out onto a board dusted with sugar.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a light, fluffy creamed base.
- Mixed dried fruit
- Adds moisture, chewiness and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the mixed dried fruit. Heavy fruit can sink to the bottom of the batter if overmixed or poured too early. Folding gently keeps the fruit evenly distributed while preserving the air trapped in the creamed mixture.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, raisin, butter, sugar, egg, milk, lemon):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Blackberryfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, raisin, butter, sugar, egg, milk, 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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