Name: Dried Apple Fruit-cake
Ingredients: 3 cups dried apples; 3 cups molasses; 1 cup raisins (seedless, if possible); 3 cups flour; 1 cup butter; 3 eggs; 1 teaspoon baking soda

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 ↓

Dried Apple Fruit-cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA steady oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a steady oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the apples

Soak the dried apples overnight in enough cold water to cover them.
Chop the soaked apples in the morning and place them in a pot with the molasses.
Cook the mixture over medium heat until the apples are almost soft.
Add the raisins and cook for a few more moments.

Make and bake the cake

Let the mixture cool, then stir in the flour, butter, eggs, and baking soda.
Pour the batter into two greased baking pans.
Bake in a steady oven at 350°F (175°C) until done.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Apple + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,920 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,706 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

Dried apples: Provide chewy pieces and fruit flavor that stay moist through baking.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, dark color, and a deep flavor while keeping the cake moist.
Flour: Forms the structure of the cake as the batter sets in the oven.
Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Butter: Adds fat for tenderness and a rich, moist crumb.

The step that matters

Cooking the apples until almost soft. Apples that stay firm will keep their texture in the batter and may not soften fully during baking. Cooking them in molasses until just tender helps them blend into the cake evenly.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, raisin, flour, butter, egg):

Figfits better
Vanillafits better
Datesfits about as well
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, raisin, flour, butter, 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.

Apple Pudding256 recipes

Molasses Cookies96 recipes

Molasses Cake90 recipes

Apple Cake80 recipes

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Dried Apple Fruit-cake