Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Mix in the egg yolks.
Add the chocolate powder, flour, cornflour, and baking powder.
Flavour with vanilla.
Stir in the whites beaten to a very stiff froth.
Bake
Grease a shallow tin; line it with greased paper.
Pour in the mixture, and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Vanilla | 1 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.
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.
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Vanilla + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Vanilla + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Vanilla + eggtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together27,347 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Vanilla and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,301 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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the batter, and the whites beaten to a stiff froth add lightness and structure.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and adds fat for a tender crumb.
- Flour (in the method)
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Cornflour (in the method)
- Softens the crumb, giving a more delicate texture than flour alone.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the oven, helping the cake rise.
- Chocolate powder
- Gives the cake its chocolate flavour and colour.
The step that matters
Stir in the whites beaten to a very stiff froth. Stiffly beaten egg whites hold air that makes the cake light. Stirring them in gently, rather than vigorously, keeps as much of that air as possible so the cake rises well instead of turning dense.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, butter, egg):
- Vanillathe original
- Strawberryfits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
- Raspberryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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