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 ↓
Dutch 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.
In another bowl, beat the sugar and eggs together until well mixed.
Make the batter
Add the butter or lard to the sugar and egg mixture and blend well.
Stir in the raisins and currants.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing well.
Add milk as needed to achieve a smooth batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake for about 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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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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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Sugar + raisintop 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure as the starch that sets when baked.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, making the cake rise and become light.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown and keep its tender texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Butter or lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich, moist crumb.
- Raisins and currants
- Add sweetness, chewy texture and dried-fruit flavour throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Adding the flour mixture gradually and mixing well. Mixing flour into batter develops gluten, which can make the cake tough if overworked. Mixing just until combined keeps the crumb tender while the baking powder still gives lift.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, egg, raisin, butter, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, egg, raisin, butter, milk. 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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