Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the beaten eggs and sweet milk, mixing well.
Gradually stir in the bread flour, baking powder, and cocoa or melted chocolate.
Fold in the chopped walnuts and vanilla extract.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake for about 30 minutes, checking to avoid burning.
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.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Bread flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Butter
- Adds fat and tenderness, and helps trap air when creamed with sugar.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps trap air when creamed with butter.
- Cocoa powder
- Gives the cake its chocolate flavour and colour.
The step that matters
Checking the bake. Baking powder and the thin batter set quickly, and the cake can burn on the outside before the centre is fully set. Checking near the end of the bake helps prevent this.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, milk, bread, flour, cocoa powder):
- Almondfits better
- Cocoafits about as well
- Hazelnutfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, milk, bread, flour, cocoa powder. 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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