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 ↓
Minnehaha 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.
Make the batter
Cream together the sugar and butter.
Beat the eggs separately and add them to the mixture.
Sift the baking powder into the flour and mix it in.
Add the cold water and stir until combined.
Bake and finish
Bake in two layers at 350°F (175°C).
Once cooled, layer with boiled icing and add chopped raisins to the filling.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the cake hold its shape as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, making the cake rise and become light.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor when creamed with the sugar.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender crumb when creamed with butter.
- Chopped raisins
- Add sweetness, chewy texture and fruity flavor to the filling.
The step that matters
Sift the baking powder into the flour and mix it in. Baking powder must be evenly distributed through the flour so the cake rises uniformly; uneven pockets can cause peaks, holes or dense spots.
“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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