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Dessert

Celebration Chocolate Cake

A moist chocolate cake made with cocoa, butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking soda, milk, sour cream, and vanilla.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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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 ↓

Celebration Chocolate Cake

Oven350°F
Time30 to 35 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Heat oven to 350°F.

  2. Grease three 9-inch round baking pans.

  3. Line bottoms with wax paper.

  4. Grease and flour paper.

  5. Mix cocoa with boiling water in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Make the batter

  1. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.

  2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

  3. Stir in vanilla.

  4. Gradually add cocoa mixture, beating well.

  5. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.

  6. Add alternately with milk and sour cream to butter mixture, beating until blended.

  7. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake and finish

  1. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

  2. Cool 10 minutes.

  3. Remove from pans to wire racks.

  4. Carefully peel off wax paper.

  5. Cool completely.

  6. Frost as desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1100Calories
46 gProtein
35 gFat
144 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Dairynot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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.

  1. Cocoa + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together357 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 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

Cocoa
Gives the cake its chocolate flavour and dark colour.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
Eggs
Provide structure and help bind the batter as it sets.
Flour
Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb together.
Baking soda
Reacts with acidic ingredients to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Sour cream
Adds moisture and acidity for a tender, moist texture.

The step that matters

Add alternately with milk and sour cream to butter mixture, beating until blended.. Alternating dry and liquid additions and mixing only until blended keeps the batter smooth and emulsified; overbeating after the flour goes in develops gluten and can make the cake tough.

Swap the cocoa

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, milk, cream):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Chestnutfits better
  3. Hazelnutfits better
  4. Cocoathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, milk, cream. 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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