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Dessert

Chocolate Cake

A layered chocolate cake made with melted chocolate, sweet milk, sugar, flour, baking soda, vanilla, egg, and walnut-sized butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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

Make the cake batter

  1. Melt two squares of chocolate.

  2. Combine 2 cupful sweet milk and yolk of 1 egg; boil until thick, stirring constantly.

  3. Add 1 cupful sugar, 2 cupfuls milk, 2 cupfuls flour, 1 teaspoon soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and a walnut-sized piece of butter.

  4. Bake in 2 layers.

Make the frosting

  1. Whisk egg white and 1 cupful sugar.

  2. Boil sugar with enough water until it strings.

  3. Turn in the beaten egg white and stir until cold.

  4. Flavor with vanilla.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

898Calories
29 gProtein
23 gFat
138 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
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 Johnson, Vt. Congregational 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.

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

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

  4. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Chocolate + sugartop 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

Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
Egg
The yolk thickens the custard, and the beaten white adds lightness and structure.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps keep the cake tender and moist.
Chocolate
Gives the cake its chocolate flavor, color, and richness.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat that makes the crumb tender and rich.
Sweet milk
Adds moisture and helps form the batter.

The step that matters

Boil the custard until thick, stirring constantly. Egg yolk can curdle or scramble if it overheats in one spot. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly so the mixture thickens smoothly.

“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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