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 ↓
Tea Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and washed, dried raisins.
Melt the butter and mix it with the warm milk.
Beat the eggs and add them to the milk and butter mixture, then stir in the essence of lemon.
Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just wet.
Shape and bake
With floured hands, shape the mixture into small rounds the size of a saucer and place them on a greased baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each.
Brush the tops with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 30 minutes.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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 cakes together as they bake.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help bind the dough.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cakes rise and become light.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a richer flavour.
- Sultana raisins
- Add chewy texture and natural sweetness throughout the cakes.
The step that matters
Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just wet.. Once liquid meets flour, gluten begins to form, so mixing only until combined keeps the cakes tender rather than tough and dense.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, milk, butter, egg, raisin):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, milk, butter, egg, raisin. 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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