Skip to main content
Dessert

Whole-Wheat Chocolate Cake with Nuts

A moist whole-wheat chocolate cake with nuts and optional cream cheese or sour cream.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 12 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Chocolate and nuts work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 440 recipes mention both. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

The recipe

Oven350°F
Time30 to 40 minutes

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Melt and mix

  1. Put the oil and chocolate in an 8-inch square pan.

  2. Set the pan in a 350°F oven just until the chocolate melts.

  3. Add sour cream or cream cheese if desired.

  4. Add remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips and nuts, to the pan.

  5. Beat with a fork until smooth and creamy (about 2 minutes), then scrape the sides of the pan.

Batter and bake

  1. Spread the batter evenly in the pan.

  2. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts.

  3. Optionally, cut the chocolate chips and nuts into the batter to some extent.

  4. Bake at 350°F for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

Cool and serve

  1. Cool in pan.

  2. Eat hot or cooled.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

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.

  1. Chocolate + nutstop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together440 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together10,018 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

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

  4. Vanilla + nutstop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together638 recipes

    Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).

  5. Vanilla + cream cheesetop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,934 recipes

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

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

Whole wheat flour
Provides the main structure, though its bran makes the crumb denser than white flour.
Egg
Binds the batter and helps give the cake its structure as it sets.
Baking soda
Reacts to lift the batter and help the cake rise while baking.
Unsweetened chocolate
Supplies the chocolate flavor and deep color, and adds richness to the batter.
Vegetable oil
Adds moisture and tenderness, keeping the crumb soft after baking.
Granulated sugar
Adds sweetness and helps keep the cake moist and tender.

The step that matters

Check for doneness with a toothpick at the earliest time. Whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid and the cake is lean, so overbaking dries it out quickly. Test the center at 30 minutes and stop once the toothpick comes out clean.

“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.

You might also like

Illustration of Chocolate CreamIllustrationChocolate Cream171 recipesIllustration of Vanilla Ice CreamIllustrationVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesIllustration of Cheese BallsIllustrationCheese Balls97 recipesIllustration of Chocolate CookiesIllustrationChocolate Cookies76 recipes