Name: Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients: two cups of sugar; one cup of milk; three cups of flour; one teaspoonful of soda; two ounces of baker's unsweetened chocolate grated; four tablespoonfuls of boiling water; one pint of sweet cream; one cup of melted butter; one cup of sweet cream; four ounces of well washed butter; a cup of butter; a cup of powdered sugar; a pound of sugar; three whole eggs; two even teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar; five layers; two unbeaten whites of eggs; five whites of eggs; one end; six eggs beaten light; cinnamon

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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 rise and crumb together.
Butter: Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor in the cake.
Eggs: Add structure and moisture, and help the batter rise and bind.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender crumb when creamed with butter.
Milk: Adds moisture and helps form a smooth batter with the flour.
Baker's unsweetened chocolate: Gives the icing its chocolate flavor and deep color.

The step that matters

Stir the icing over the fire until smooth and glossy. Egg whites and sugar can curdle or turn grainy if overheated, so stir gently over low heat until the mixture is smooth and glossy.

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, flour, chocolate, cream, butter, egg):

Cinnamonthe original
Nutmegfits about as well
Gingerfits less well
Jalapenofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, flour, chocolate, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Water	not in our table	0

Chocolate Layer Cake