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 ↓
Raisin Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Cream the butter in a large bowl.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until combined in another bowl.
Add the flour to the yolk mixture and stir in the creamed butter.
Whip the egg whites until frothy and fold them into the mixture along with the milk, nutmeg, and baking powder.
Beat the mixture until light and creamy.
Add the raisins and bake
Prepare the raisins by stoning, chopping, and coating them with flour to help them mix evenly.
Fold the raisins into the batter.
Line a baking tin with buttered paper and pour in the batter.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until done.
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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites and beaten yolks give the cake lift and a light, tender structure.
- Butter
- Creamed with the sugar, it traps air and adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Raisins
- Add chewy pockets of sweetness and moisture throughout the cake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from collapsing and keeps the batter light.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, flour, sugar, butter, egg, milk):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Capersfits less well
- Jalapenofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, flour, sugar, butter, egg, milk. 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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