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Chocolate Cake

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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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 ↓

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Four cups of brown sugar; 1 cup of butter; 1 cup of sour milk; 4 cups of flour; 1 cup of grated chocolate; 1 cup of hot water to dissolve chocolate; 4 eggs; 2 teaspoons of soda; 2 teaspoons of baking powder. This quantity makes 2 large cakes. Mrs. A. A. Stanley.

  2. 24 THE USEFUL COOK BOOK'

  3. Melt one-quarter oake of Baker's ohoeolate with half cup of sugar, half cup of sweet milk and 1 egg. Boil, stirring ooiDBtantly. When cool add 3 tablespoonfuls of vanilla.

  4. One cup of sugar ; half cup of butter ; 1 egg and yolk of another ; 2 cups of flour; 1 teaspoon of soda. Stir both mixtuTes together. Bake in moderate oven. Over-baking makes it dry.

  5. Mks. Hattie Cahpentek.

  6. Half cup of grated chocolate; half cup of sweet milk; yolk 1 egg. Boil until thick and then add 1 tablespoon of butter; 1 cup of sugar; half cup of milk ; 2 cups of flour ; 1 teaspoon of soda ; 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar. Flavor with vanilla. Mks. McWhortek.

  7. CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE. Two squares grated chocolate; yolk 1 egg; half cup of sugar; half cup of sweet milk. Boil until thick. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla; 1 cup of sugar; half cup of sweet milk; half cup of butter; 1 egg; 2 cups of flour ; 1 teaspoon of soda in milk. Stir the two together, bake in loaf or layers. Use the white of egg remaining from cake for boiled frosting.

  8. Mes. a. E. Congdon.

  9. Half cup of Baker's chocolate; half cup of sweet milk; yolk 1 egg. Stir all, then heat, not boil ; remove from stove and add a piece of butiser size of a walnut, and 1 teaspoon of soda. Cool somewhat and add half cup of sweet milk, 1 cup of sugar, vanilla, iy2 cups of flour. Use white of egg for frosting. Mes. Feank Starkins.

  10. Two cups of sugar; half cup of butter; 1 cup of milk; 31/^ cups of flou]' ; 2 eggs ; 1 teaspoon of soda ; 2 teaspoons of cream tartar : half cup of grated chocolate; 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Cream butter and sugar to- gether, then add eggs. Sift cream tartar with flour, dissolve soda in the milk and stir alternately with the flour. Add the half cup of chocolate and vanilla. Mrs. E. E. Woolsey.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1226Calories
38 gProtein
51 gFat
151 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Sour Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Waternot in our table0
Cakenot in our table0

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

By Ithaca (N.Y.) First Baptist Church. Ladies Union. 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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, flour, chocolate, vanilla, cream):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Hazelnutfits better
  3. Chestnutfits better
  4. Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, flour, chocolate, vanilla, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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