Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Caramel Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
In a double boiler, combine one cup brown sugar, one-half cup sweet milk, the yolk of one egg, add one-half cup grated chocolate, flavor with vanilla or lemon, then add one cup brown sugar, one-half cup granulated sugar, one-half cup butter, and one teaspoon soda. Cook until thick.
Make the cake
Add half cup sweet milk, two eggs, one teaspoon soda, three tablespoons cold water, and two and one-half cups flour. Bake in layers.
Make the frosting
Combine two cups brown sugar, three-fourths cup water, and butter the size of an egg. Cook until creamy, and spread.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 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 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | 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.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 layers together.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter set when baked.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a caramel flavor to the cake and frosting.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and enriches the filling and frosting.
- Soda
- Reacts to produce gas that helps the batter rise into light layers.
- Grated chocolate
- Adds chocolate flavor and a deeper color to the filling.
The step that matters
Cook the frosting until creamy. The sugar syrup must reach the right concentration. Too little cooking leaves the frosting runny and slow to set, while overcooking makes it grainy or hard once it cools.
“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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