Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Canal Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and bake
Combine flour, butter, and nuts and put into a baking dish.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F for 15 minutes until browned, then leave to cool.
Layer and finish
Mix half of the whipped cream with powdered sugar and cream cheese, then spread over the cooled cake.
Mix 1 ½ cups cold milk with chocolate pudding, then spread over the first layer.
Mix vanilla pudding with the rest of the milk, then spread over the other two layers.
Cover with the rest of the whipped cream and sprinkle nuts on top.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 10 ingredients. The other 3 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 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cream Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 99 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Nuts | not in our table | 0 |
| Topping | not in our table | 0 |
| Pudding | 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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + cream cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,747 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Nuts + chocolatetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together440 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- All purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the baked base as its starches and proteins set.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the base crisp and brown as it bakes.
- Cream cheese
- Gives the middle layer a thick, creamy body with a slight tang.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cream cheese layer and helps it stay smooth.
- Whipped cream topping
- Adds a light, airy texture and moisture to the layers.
- Chocolate pudding
- Its starch thickens with milk, setting into a firm chocolate layer.
The step that matters
Cool the baked base completely before layering. A warm base melts the cream cheese mixture and softens the pudding layers, so they slide, blend, and turn soupy instead of staying distinct.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, cream, sugar, cream cheese, milk, chocolate):
- Almondfits better
- Hazelnutfits better
- Walnutfits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, cream, sugar, cream cheese, milk, chocolate. 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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