Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Glendale Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, grated chocolate, and baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture.
Beat the egg yolks and fold them into the batter.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold them into the batter.
Bake and make the filling
Pour the batter into two greased cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.
For the filling, boil 3 cups of sugar with 1 cup of water until it reaches a brittle stage.
Pour the hot syrup over the beaten egg whites and stir until cool.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks give the cake lift and a light, airy crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Flour provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Creaming butter with sugar traps air and adds richness and tenderness to the crumb.
- Granulated sugar
- Sugar sweetens the cake and helps it brown and stay tender when creamed with butter.
- Baking powder
- Baking powder releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise in the oven.
- Sweet chocolate
- Grated chocolate supplies the chocolate flavor and adds richness to the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites beaten to stiff peaks trap air that makes the cake rise. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air in the batter so the cake stays light.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, flour, chocolate, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, flour, chocolate, 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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