Why it works: Sugar and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Caramel Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cake
Melt one-half cake Baker's chocolate with ½ cup milk, yolk of 1 egg, and 1 cup sugar, cook until smooth, then let cool.
While it cools, mix 1 cup sugar, ½ cup butter, 2 eggs, ½ cup milk, 2 cups flour, and 2 teaspoons baking powder. Flavor with vanilla. Add the chocolate and bake in layers.
Filling and coating
Prepare the filling: beat the whites of 2 eggs with the same amount of water to a froth. Add 2 pounds confectioner's sugar until very thick. Spread ½ inch thick.
Prepare the coating: melt one-half cake chocolate with 1 cup sugar and ½ cup milk. Flavor with vanilla and boil until creamy, then pour over the cake.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Cake | 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.
-
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + chocolatetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,994 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and the whites whip into a light foam for the filling.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, making the layers rise and turn light.
- Baker's chocolate
- Gives the cake and coating their deep chocolate flavour and dark colour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and coating and helps the coating set to a creamy texture.
The step that matters
Boil the coating until creamy. Boiling the sugar and milk mixture to the right point sets its texture. Too little heat leaves a thin coating that won't cling, while too much makes it stiff and grainy as 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.
More caramel cake recipes
You might also like
Chocolate Cream171 recipes
Chocolate Cookies76 recipes
Chocolate Fudge55 recipes
Chocolate Drop Cookies50 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.