Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Devil's Food Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat 3 eggs and 1/4 cup butter.
Beat 1 cup sweet milk and 1 teaspoon soda.
Beat 1 cup brown sugar and 2 cups well-sifted flour.
Beat 1 cup grated unsweetened chocolate and 1/4 cup milk.
Cook all together until the chocolate is well dissolved.
Stand aside to cool.
Finish and bake
Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs, flour, milk, and beaten whites.
Add soda to flour.
Put all ingredients together and bake 35 to 40 minutes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set.
- Soda
- Reacts to release gas that lifts the batter as it bakes.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and deepens the colour and flavour.
- Unsweetened chocolate (in the method)
- Adds deep chocolate flavour and dark colour to the batter.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and helps form a smooth, pourable batter.
The step that matters
Cook the chocolate until fully dissolved. Chocolate that is not completely melted and blended stays in specks, leaving an uneven texture and flavour in the batter. Cooking it fully into the liquid mixture gives it an even distribution throughout the cake.
“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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