Name: Drop Cakes
Ingredients: 3 eggs; 1 lb raisins, chopped; 1 lb nuts, chopped; 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Drop Cakes

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 lb raisins, chopped
1 lb nuts, chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon

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 the mixture

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat eggs until well mixed.
Add raisins, nuts, and cinnamon to the eggs.

Bake

Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Raisin + nutstop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together490 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Nuts + cinnamontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together487 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Egg + raisintop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,556 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Egg + nutstop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,624 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).