Name: Velvet Brownie Swirl Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 12 slices
Ingredients: For the Velvet Cake:; 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil; 1 1/3 cups buttermilk, room temperature; 3 eggs, room temperature; 1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar; 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract; 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour; 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar; 1 tsp. baking soda; 1 tsp. baking powder; 1 tsp. salt; 4 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder; For the Brownie Swirl:; 3 Tb. unsweetened cocoa powder; 4 oz. bar chocolate, chopped and melted; For the Vanilla Glaze:; 6-9 Tb. heavy cream; 2 cups powdered sugar; 1 Tb. vanila bean paste (or extract)

Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate 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 ↓

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.

Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,973 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Vanilla + cocoa powdertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,189 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

Vanilla and sugar 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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Cake	not in our table	0
Bean	not in our table	0

Velvet Brownie Swirl Cake