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 ↓
White Fruit Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Cut the citron into thin slices and chop the raisins finely.
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the milk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.
Make the batter
Combine the flour, Wampum soda, and cream of tartar, then gradually add to the creamed mixture.
Fold in the egg whites and the chopped fruit.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 3 hours.
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.
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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foam, they trap air and lighten the batter for a tender crumb.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and add richness and a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a light, aerated batter.
- Wampum soda
- Reacts with the cream of tartar to release gas that makes the cake rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so it reacts with the soda to produce lift and stabilizes the egg whites.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiffly beaten egg whites hold the air that lightens the cake. Stirring them vigorously deflates the foam, so fold gently with a spatula until just combined.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, flour, cream, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinthe original
- Coconutfits less well
- Figfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, flour, cream, 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.
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