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 ↓
Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the chocolate mixture
Combine one and one-half squares chocolate, 3 cups sugar, 3 ¼ cups milk, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and the yolk of one beaten egg in a bowl.
Dissolve the mixture over a tea kettle and stir until smooth.
Combine the batter
Combine one-fourth cup butter, ½ cup sugar, ¼ cup milk, one whole egg, ½ teaspoon salt, and one cup flour.
Add the chocolate mixture to the dry mixture.
Add a little more flour and mix well together.
Bake
Bake in a slow oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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.
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).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chocolate + milktop 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
- Chocolate
- Supplies the chocolate flavour and dark colour, and adds richness to the batter.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown during baking.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and loosens the batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Flour
- Provides structure as its proteins set during baking.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps set the crumb structure as it bakes.
The step that matters
Dissolving the chocolate over a tea kettle. Chocolate can seize, turn grainy, or scorch if it gets too hot. Gentle heat from steam, with constant stirring, melts it evenly and keeps the mixture smooth before it is folded into the batter.
“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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