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 1 pint of tepid water and stir in enough flour to make a soft dough.
Knead the dough and let it prove in a warm place, covered.
Mix the batter
Place the remaining flour on a board, make a well in the center, and add the butter and sugar. Rub together until smooth.
Add the eggs and a small piece of the fermented dough, mixing well.
Incorporate the saffron infused in ½ pint of warm water, mixing thoroughly.
Add the stoned and chopped raisins and cleaned currants, mixing until combined.
Prove and bake
Transfer the mixture to a well-greased mold or two smaller ones and let it prove again.
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
- Provides the structure that holds the dough and cake together as it rises and bakes.
- Yeast
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes the cake rise and gives it a light texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping bind the batter and give it body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps brown the crust as it bakes.
- Currants
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy fruit pieces throughout the crumb.
The step that matters
Let the dough prove fully before adding the other ingredients. Yeast needs time in a warm place to ferment and build gas and flavour. Under-proofed dough gives a dense cake, while the second proof lets the mixed batter rise again before baking.
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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