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Dessert

Dark Cake

A chocolate cake made with bitter chocolate, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder, and soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Dark Cake

Why it works: Vanilla and milk 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 ↓

Dark Cake

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Beat sugar and butter together, stirring; boil together chocolate and egg beaten well. Add ½ the milk. When dissolved, add this to butter and sugar, and the other 2 cups of milk; then vanilla, flour, soda, and baking powder.

  2. Heat until thoroughly dissolved and mixed; add 1 tablespoon of butter when done.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1000Calories
29 gProtein
35 gFat
138 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 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 Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog]. 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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps the cake brown and stay moist.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
Bitter chocolate
Gives the cake its deep chocolate flavour and dark colour.
Egg
Adds richness and helps give the cake structure as it sets.
Milk
Adds liquid that moistens the batter and dissolves the sugar.
Soda
Produces gas that helps the cake rise.

The step that matters

Cook the chocolate and beaten egg gently. Egg proteins set with heat, so the mixture can scramble or curdle if it gets too hot too fast. Heating only until the chocolate dissolves and the mixture is smooth keeps it silky and evenly blended into the batter.

“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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