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Dessert

Chocolate Loaf

A moist chocolate loaf cake with a glossy chocolate frosting.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 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

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 cake

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

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

  3. Add the flour, eggs (reserve 4 egg whites), milk, baking soda, cream of tartar, and vanilla. Mix until smooth.

  4. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.

  5. Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make and spread the frosting

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

  2. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until glossy.

  3. Fold in the grated chocolate gently.

  4. Spread the frosting over the cooled loaf.

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. Vanilla + chocolatetop 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

Butter
Adds fat and richness, creaming with sugar traps air for a tender crumb.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and keep moisture.
Flour
Provides the structure that sets the cake as it bakes.
Eggs
Add structure, richness and moisture; reserved whites whip into the frosting.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas that helps the loaf rise.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and color to the frosting.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites for the frosting. Whites must reach stiff, glossy peaks before the sugar is added gradually. Any trace of fat or yolk can stop them from whipping, and under-beaten whites will deflate when the chocolate is folded in.

“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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