Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Mocha Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cake
Bake a sponge cake in sheets.
Cut the cake in rounds, and slice each round in 3 pieces crosswise.
Make the frosting
Beat ¼ cup butter to a cream with 1 cup sugar.
Add 1 cup cooled cream or custard filling.
Color and flavor the frosting as you choose.
Assemble and decorate
Put the slices together again with a thin layer of this frosting.
Spread the frosting over the sides and roll in shredded coconut.
Spread the top with frosting and ornament as fancifully as possible with colored icing forced through tubes, candied fruit, etc.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| 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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the frosting and, beaten with butter, gives it body and a smooth texture.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness to the frosting, keeping it soft and spreadable.
- Butter (in the method)
- Provides fat that makes the frosting smooth, creamy and easy to spread.
The step that matters
Beat the butter to a cream with the sugar. Beating softened butter with sugar traps air and dissolves the sugar grains, giving a smooth, light frosting. If it is under-beaten, the frosting stays grainy and spreads unevenly.
“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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