Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Chocolate Caramel 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the melted butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
Stir in the melted chocolate and baking powder.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until just combined.
Flavor the batter with vanilla and lemon extracts.
Divide the batter into 4 layers.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the filling
For the filling, boil 4 cups of powdered sugar until brittle.
Beat 4 egg whites to stiff peaks.
Gradually add the hot sugar, beating until cool.
Mix in the tartaric acid.
Flavor with vanilla and lemon.
Assemble and frost
Spread the filling between the layers, about ½ inch thick.
Use enough chocolate in the frosting for the top to color it.
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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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Eggs
- Provide structure and binding as they set, and help the batter hold its air.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake crumb as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness, tenderness and moisture to the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the layers rise and lighten.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the crumb a fine, tender texture.
- Chocolate
- Adds deep chocolate flavor and dark color to the batter and frosting.
The step that matters
Adding the hot sugar to the egg whites. Add the boiled sugar slowly while beating so the whites stay stiff. Hot sugar poured in too fast can deflate the foam, and sugar boiled too far turns hard and may not blend smoothly.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, chocolate, butter, egg, flour, vanilla):
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, chocolate, butter, egg, flour, 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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