Why it works: Sugar and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and 15,404 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Devil's Food Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cake
Dissolve ¾ cup grated German sweet chocolate in a cup of boiling water; add 1 teaspoon soda and set aside while mixing the cake.
Add 2 cups brown sugar.
Y* cup sour milk (sour
Y2 cup butter. Cream is better.
Add 2 eggs and 2½ cups flour.
Add the chocolate. Bake in a quick oven.
Make the chocolate filling
Chocolate Filling. One-half cup grated chocolate dissolved in a small cup water; add 1 cup sugar, a little butter, and flavor if desired.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + chocolatetop 18% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together8,994 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg share little aroma chemistry, yet 106,462 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure, binding and richness to the batter.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a soft, tender crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to lift the batter and darken the chocolate.
- German sweet chocolate
- Gives the cake its chocolate flavor and deep color.
The step that matters
Dissolving the chocolate and soda before mixing. The soda must be fully dissolved in the hot chocolate liquid and given time to react before mixing, so it lifts the batter evenly rather than leaving pockets of bitterness or uneven rising.
“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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