Why it works: Raisin and flour 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 ↓
English Tea 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. The book gives no cooking times; 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).
Line the bottom of a cake tin with greased paper.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks and stir well.
Mix in the sweet milk.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder.
Fold the stiffly beaten egg whites into the mixture.
Flour the raisins to prevent them from sinking.
Stir the raisins into the batter.
Add the grated lemon peel and nutmeg, mixing well.
Bake
Pour the batter into the tin.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick 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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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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 + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 cake together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Egg whites add lift and structure, while yolks add richness and binding.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the creamed butter trap air for a light texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the oven so the cake rises.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and helps form a smooth, pourable batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold the air that lifts the cake. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring vigorously deflates the batter and yields a dense cake.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, raisin, flour, nutmeg, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, raisin, flour, nutmeg, sugar, egg. 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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