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 ↓
Butternut 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. 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, beat the eggs separately.
In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the sweet milk and mix well.
Stir in the flour and baking powder until combined.
Fold in the chopped butternuts and raisins.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake
Bake for 30-40 minutes or 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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + butternuttop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together37 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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Butternut + raisintop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to add richness and a tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and binding to hold the cake together as it sets.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake batter as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps create a tender, browned crumb.
- Butternuts
- Add moisture and body, with chunks of fruit-like flavour throughout.
The step that matters
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Baking time varies with oven and pan, and the cake sets as its proteins and starches firm up. Pulling it too early can leave the centre wet and sunken, so testing with a toothpick confirms it is fully set.
Swap the butternut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, flour, raisin, egg):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Butternutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, flour, raisin, 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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