Name: Connecticut Election Cake
Ingredients: 10 pounds all-purpose flour; 5 pounds shortening (equal parts butter and lard, salted); 1 quart brewer's yeast; Sweet milk (enough to make the dough softer than biscuit); 5.5 pounds white sugar; 10 large eggs; 5 pounds raisins (seeded or chopped); 1 cup sweet cider (2 gills); 2 tablespoons powdered mace; 2 whole nutmegs, grated; Rind of 2 oranges, chopped fine; Citron (optional)

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 ↓

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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + biscuittop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together889 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Biscuit + raisintop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

All-purpose flour: Provides the structure that holds the dough together and supports its rise.
Shortening: Coats the flour particles, tenderizing the crumb and adding richness.
Brewer's yeast: Produces gas as it ferments, leavening the dough so it rises.
Eggs: Add structure, richness and moisture to the cake crumb.
White sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps it brown in the oven.
Raisins: Add moisture and concentrated sweetness throughout the cake.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise until it cracks open. Yeast needs time to build gas and strength; rising too little leaves a dense cake, while the dough must be allowed to rise fully before the fruit is added so the crumb stays light.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, milk, biscuit, sugar, egg, cider):

Vanillafits about as well
Raisinthe original
Figfits less well
Applefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, milk, biscuit, sugar, egg, cider. 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.

Connecticut Election Cake