Why it works: Butter and beer match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 680 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the batter
Cream butter and sugar until light.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Blend in vanilla.
Sift cocoa, flour, baking powder, soda and salt together.
Add to creamed mixture alternately with beer, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
Stir in sauerkraut. Raisins and nuts are optional.
Bake and finish
Turn into two 8 or 9 inch greased and floured cake pans.
Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes.
Cool and frost as desired.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Butter + beertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together680 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Vanilla + cocoatop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together357 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together35,031 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + raisintop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,071 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together122,858 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 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
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter set firmly in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps trap air when creamed, giving a lighter texture.
- Beer
- Supplies liquid that hydrates the flour and adds moisture and a malty depth.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic batter to produce gas that lifts the cake and helps it rise.
The step that matters
Adding the dry ingredients and beer alternately. Adding flour and liquid in portions, starting and ending with dry, keeps the batter smooth. Overmixing once the flour is wet develops gluten, which can make the cake tough.
Flavor stand-ins for the cocoa
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, beer, raisin):
- Almondbetter flavor fit
- Chestnutabout as good a flavor fit
- Pecansabout as good a flavor fit
- Cocoathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, beer, raisin. 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).
“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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