Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Never-fail Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Melt together one and one-half squares of Baker's chocolate and three tablespoonfuls of butter. Place in a bowl.
Add one cup sugar, one-half cup milk, one cup pastry flour, two teaspoonfuls baking powder, and a little salt.
Blend two eggs and one teaspoonful vanilla into the mixture. Do not stir until all the ingredients are added.
Beat with a Dover egg beater for five minutes.
Bake
Bake in a loaf pan for thirty or thirty-five minutes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 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 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Pastry | 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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Pastry flour
- Provides the starch and gluten network that gives the cake its structure.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help set the crumb as they cook.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises in the pan.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and keeps the cake soft.
- Baker's chocolate
- Gives the cake its chocolate flavor and deep color, with added fat.
The step that matters
Beat with a Dover egg beater for five minutes. Beating incorporates air and blends the batter evenly, which helps the cake rise. Overbeating develops too much gluten in the flour, which can make the crumb tough and dense.
“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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