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Dessert

Devil Cake

A chocolate cake with brown sugar, milk, and chocolate, topped with a chocolate and sugar glaze.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Devil Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the chocolate mixture

  1. Combine brown sugar, milk, and chocolate in a saucepan.

  2. Heat until melted, then let cool.

Make the batter and bake

  1. Cream butter and brown sugar together in a bowl.

  2. Add milk, baking soda, and eggs, then mix well.

  3. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture.

  4. Mix briskly for a few minutes.

  5. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan or layer tins.

  6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.

Make the filling and topping

  1. Mix cornstarch with sweet milk and beat in an egg.

  2. Boil until thick, then add vanilla.

  3. Combine chocolate, white sugar, and boiling water.

  4. Boil for a few minutes and flavor with vanilla.

  5. Spread the topping on the cake before it cools completely.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps keep the crumb soft.
Butter
Adds fat that gives the cake a tender texture and rich flavor.
Eggs
Add structure and binding, helping the batter set as it bakes.
Baking soda
Produces gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
Cornstarch
Thickens the sweet milk filling when it is boiled.
Chocolate
Gives the cake its deep chocolate flavor and color.

The step that matters

Boil the cornstarch filling until thick. Cornstarch only thickens fully when it reaches a boil and is stirred. If it is undercooked, the filling stays thin and runny and will not hold a layer or spread well.

“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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