Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Raisin 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.
Make the batter
Boil together the raisins, brown sugar, lard, warm water, cloves, and cinnamon for 2 minutes.
Set the mixture aside to cool.
Once cooled, add the flour and baking soda. Mix well and pour into a loaf pan.
Bake
Bake at 350°F (175°C) 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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,070 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Raisins
- Add sweetness, chewy texture and moisture to the cake.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown.
- Lard
- Provides fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps it moist.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as it sets in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the spiced, sticky mixture to help the cake rise.
The step that matters
Cooling the boiled mixture before adding the flour and baking soda. If the mixture is still hot, the baking soda can react too quickly and lose lift before baking, and the flour can start setting unevenly. Letting it cool first gives a more even, well-risen crumb.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits about as well
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, cinnamon, flour. 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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