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Fudgy Wudgy

"Soft spongy fudge chocolate cake melting into a sinful oblivion... a definite crowd pleaser!"

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 30,777 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

1 - 9 inch cake
Prep20 min
Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.

  2. Set a pan of simmering water under a heatproof bowl. Add the chopped semisweet chocolate and the softened butter, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the ground espresso beans.

  3. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1 cup of the sugar until thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chocolate mixture until combined.

  4. In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together. Fold into the chocolate batter in two additions until just combined.

  5. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar until stiff, glossy peaks form. Fold about one third into the batter to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest.

  6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is set and a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. The center should reach 160°F (71°C) because of the raw eggs.

  7. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack and cool completely.

  8. If using, dust the top with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Sugar + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together30,777 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Beans + cinnamontop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together511 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Chocolate + cinnamontop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,808 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Flour + cinnamontop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together16,954 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Chocolate + sugartop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together15,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,777 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chocolate, sugar, butter, egg, flour, cinnamon):

  1. Almondbetter flavor fit
  2. Pecansbetter flavor fit
  3. Walnutbetter flavor fit
  4. Beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chocolate, sugar, butter, egg, flour, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).