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 ↓
Delicious Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the beaten egg yolks to the butter mixture and mix well.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and add it to the mixture.
Sift the cream of tartar with the flour and stir it into the batter.
Add vanilla extract and mix until combined.
If desired, fold in raisins or currants and adjust flour as needed.
Finish and bake
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the batter.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-35 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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Milk + buttertop 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 + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the cake a tender, rich texture.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and structure; whipped whites lighten the batter and help it rise.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure once its proteins set in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so it reacts with baking soda, producing lift and a finer crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps hold air for a lighter texture.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring vigorously deflates the foam and leaves a dense cake.
Swap the raisin
The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, butter, egg, flour, cream, vanilla):
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Strawberryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, butter, egg, flour, cream, vanilla. 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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