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 ↓
Sultana Raised Rice Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Cool the milk until lukewarm, then add sugar, yeast, and well-beaten eggs.
Add the cooked rice.
Warm the flour in a bowl, make a nest in the center, and pour the liquid ingredients into the nest.
Stir the mixture by pulling flour in from the outer edges.
When 2/3 of the flour has been stirred in, add the melted shortening, raisins, and salt, and continue mixing until all flour is used.
Knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes until smooth and firm, then place it in a greased bowl and cover it to rise.
Rise and bake
When the dough doubles in volume, press it down in the bowl.
When it rises again to triple, shape it into rolls or a loaf and rolls.
Grease generously on top and set aside to rise.
When light, bake.
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.
-
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Rice + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together565 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten structure that holds the dough together and gives it chew.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the crumb set and stay tender.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning during baking.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and softens texture.
- Sultana raisins
- Add sweetness, moisture, and pockets of fruit flavor throughout the bread.
The step that matters
Letting the dough fully rise before baking. Yeast gas expansion creates the light texture. Baking before the dough has risen enough leaves a dense result, while over-proofing can collapse the structure.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, rice, flour, butter):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Coconutfits about as well
- Figfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, rice, flour, butter. 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.
You might also like
Rice Cake120 recipes
Rice Cream43 recipes
Rice Jelly42 recipes
Rice Pudding22 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.