Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Devil Food 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and add it to the mixture.
Gradually add the flour, mixing until just combined.
Melt the chocolate and fold it into the batter last.
Bake
Divide the batter evenly among four greased and floured cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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).
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Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake's crumb as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic mixture to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich texture when creamed with sugar.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown and stay tender.
- Chocolate
- Adds deep chocolate flavor and fat that enriches the batter.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk. Baking soda needs an acid to react and create rising gas. Dissolving it fully before adding it to the batter spreads the leavening evenly, so the cake rises without dark or bitter patches.
“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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