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 Cake
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make and bake
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sour milk, baking soda, lard, and chopped raisins or currants until well combined.
Roll the dough to a thickness of 2 inches.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown.
Serve
Remove from the oven, split open, butter, and serve hot.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Forms the main structure of the dough as gluten develops during mixing.
- Sour milk
- Adds moisture and acidity that works with baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in sour milk to produce gas that leavens the cake.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and contributes to browning.
- Raisins or currants
- Add sweetness and chewy pockets of fruit throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Rolling the dough to 2 inches. Dough this thick needs enough time in the oven for the centre to bake through before the outside over-browns. Uneven thickness causes uneven baking, so the piece should be rolled evenly.
“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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