Chocolate Cake I

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

   Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

3. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together19,241 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together92,116 recipes

   Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together106,462 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

Flour

Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.

Eggs

Egg whites add structure and help the cake set and hold its rise.

Baking soda

Reacts with acidic ingredients to produce gas that lifts the batter as it bakes.

Baking powder

Releases gas during baking to give the cake additional lift and a lighter crumb.

Cocoa

Supplies the chocolate flavour and dark colour of the cake.

Granulated sugar

Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and keep moisture during baking.

Swap the cocoa

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

1. Almondfits better
2. Chestnutfits better
3. Macadamia nutfits better
4. Cocoathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, egg, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.