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Dessert

Caramel Cake

A layered cake with caramel sauce and chocolate frosting.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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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 ↓

Caramel 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.

Make the cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

  3. Add the milk and mix well.

  4. Gradually add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda (or cream of tartar).

  5. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined.

  6. Pour the batter into greased jelly tins and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make the caramel

  1. For the caramel, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan.

  2. Add the brown sugar and milk (or water) and bring to a boil.

  3. Stir in the chocolate and boil for 20 minutes or until thickened.

  4. Pour the caramel over the warm cakes, stacking the layers.

Make the frosting

  1. For the frosting, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

  2. Gradually add 1 ½ cups sugar, vanilla, and grated chocolate, mixing until smooth.

  3. Spread the frosting on top of the cake.

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.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

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

Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake's rise and crumb together.
Eggs
Add structure and richness, helping the batter set as it bakes.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, making the cake rise and become light.
Butter
Adds fat for tenderness and flavour, and helps trap air when creamed with sugar.
Brown sugar
Sweetens the caramel and adds depth of flavour and moisture.
Egg whites
Whipped into stiff peaks to create a light, airy frosting.

The step that matters

Boiling the caramel for 20 minutes. Boiling thickens the mixture as water evaporates and sugar concentrates. Stop too early and the caramel stays runny; cook too long and it can set too firm or scorch.

“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.

More caramel cake recipes

Chocolate 16Filling 11Potato 9Maple 4 See all 114 →

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