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Dessert

Chocolate Loaf

A moist chocolate loaf made with brown sugar, butter, sour milk, boiling water, eggs, chocolate, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Chocolate Loaf

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 Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

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

  1. Dissolve the chocolate in the boiling water.

  2. In a bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter.

  3. Add the sour milk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and baking powder to the mixture.

  4. Stir in the dissolved chocolate and mix well.

  5. Gradually add the flour until fully combined.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.

  2. Bake at 300°F (150°C) until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the loaf brown and stay tender.
Butter
Creams with the sugar to add fat and a tender, rich crumb.
Eggs
Provide structure and binding that hold the loaf together as it bakes.
Flour
Forms the main structure of the loaf once its proteins set in the oven.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that makes the loaf rise.
Sour milk
Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tenderness.

The step that matters

Gradually add the flour until fully combined. Overmixing once flour is added develops gluten, which makes the loaf tough and dense. Stop mixing as soon as the flour is incorporated.

“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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