Name: Deviled Cake
Ingredients: two-thirds cup of grated chocolate; two-thirds cup of sugar; one-half cup of sweet milk; one cup sugar; one-half cup of butter; three cups of flour; one egg; two eggs

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 ↓

Deviled Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chocolate mixture

Combine two-thirds cup grated chocolate, two-thirds cup sugar, one-half cup sweet milk, and yolk of one egg; mix and boil until thickened.

Make the cake batter

Prepare the cake batter with one cup sugar, two eggs, one-half cup butter, one-half cup sweet milk, a small teaspoon soda, three cups flour, and vanilla.
Stir the boiled mixture into the cake batter.

Bake and assemble

Bake in layers and assemble with the boiled frosting.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

988Calories

29 gProtein

35 gFat

137 gCarbs

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

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,128 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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's crumb together as it bakes.
Eggs: Add structure and richness, helping the batter bind and set as it bakes.
Butter: Adds fat for tenderness and a richer crumb.
Grated chocolate: Gives the boiled mixture its chocolate flavor and body.
Soda (in the method): Reacts with the batter's acid to help the cake rise.

“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.