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 ↓
Chocolate 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 chocolate filling
Combine grated chocolate, sugar, milk, and egg yolk in a saucepan.
Boil the mixture until thickened.
Let the chocolate mixture cool.
Make and bake the batter
Cream sugar, butter, and milk together in a mixing bowl.
Gradually add sifted flour and baking powder.
Mix in vanilla.
Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the batter.
Mix the batter well.
Divide the batter into four greased jelly cake tins.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the icing and assemble
Boil sugar and water until almost at crackle height.
Beat egg whites until stiff.
Slowly pour the hot sugar mixture into the egg whites while beating continuously.
Add a pinch of citric acid to the icing.
Let the icing cool before spreading between the cake layers.
Spread the cooled icing between the cake layers.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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).
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
- Egg yolk thickens the chocolate mixture and egg whites form the structure of the icing.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake batter rises and becomes light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Grated chocolate
- Gives the cake its chocolate flavour and rich colour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown while keeping it moist.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites. The syrup must be poured slowly while beating continuously; pouring too fast can deflate the whites, and the sugar cooks the whites into a stable, glossy foam.
“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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