Name: Chocolate Fkosting
Ingredients: one-half cups of fine sugar; two teaspoons of vanilla; two eggs; six great spoons of grated chocolate

Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Chocolate Fkosting

Ingredients

one-half cups of fine sugar
two teaspoons of vanilla
two eggs
six great spoons of grated chocolate

Directions

Beat egg whites with sugar, grated chocolate, and vanilla.
Spread thickly between layers and on top of the cake.
It should be made like any frosting.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

294Calories

8 gProtein

14 gFat

31 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12

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

By Home for the Friendless (Chicago, Ill.). 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.

Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Vanilla + eggtop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together27,347 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

Eggs: Whipped whites trap air and set into a light, fluffy frosting structure.
Fine sugar: Dissolves into the whites, stabilizing the foam and adding sweetness.
Grated chocolate: Adds rich chocolate flavour and body to the frosting.
Vanilla: Adds aroma that rounds out the chocolate flavour.

“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.