Why it works: Cocoa and vanilla work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 357 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Wacky Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a baking pan, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
Make three holes in the mixture (you can press in a soup ladle and remove).
Mix and bake
Pour the vinegar in one hole, the vanilla in another and the salad oil in the third.
Now pour the water over the entire mixture and mix with a fork just until all the lumps are out.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Decorate
To decorate: hold a paper doily over the cake and sift the powdered sugar on it.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Salad | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Cocoa + vanillatop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together357 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as its starch sets during baking.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cake brown and stay tender.
- Cocoa
- Provides chocolate flavour and dark colour.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the vinegar to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
- Vinegar
- Reacts with the baking soda to lift the batter, and adds a slight acidity.
- Salad oil
- Adds fat that keeps the cake moist and tender.
The step that matters
Mix just until the lumps are out. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, which makes the cake tough. Stop once the batter is smooth so the baking soda and vinegar reaction still gives a light crumb.
Swap the cocoa
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, vinegar, vanilla):
- Chestnutfits better
- Almondfits better
- Hazelnutfits better
- Cocoathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, vinegar, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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