Name: Devil's Food Cake
Ingredients: one-half cups sugar; one-half cup butter beaten to a cream; two squares baker's chocolate melted; one cup sour milk; a pinch of salt; three well beaten eggs; one teaspoon; two large layers; salt

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 ↓

Devil's Food Cake

Ingredients

Directions

One and one-half cups sugar, one-half cup butter beaten to a cream; add to this two squares Baker's chocolate melted, a pinch of salt, three well beaten eggs, one teaspoon (level) soda in one cup sour milk; flour to make a very soft cake dough. This is enough for two large layers. Delicious.— Mrs. M. C. Wisehart, Flagstaff, Ariz.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

584Calories

16 gProtein

39 gFat

43 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

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

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).