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Dessert

Nelly's Chocolate Cake

A chocolate cake topped with a chocolate dressing made from beaten egg whites and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 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 ↓

Nelly's 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.

Make the cake

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

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

  3. Add the eggs (4 yolks and 2 whites) and milk, mixing well.

  4. Sift in the baking powder and flour, and combine until smooth.

  5. Pour the batter into two long shallow baking tins.

  6. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Make the dressing

  1. For the dressing, beat the reserved egg whites to stiff peaks.

  2. Gradually add 1½ cups of sugar and vanilla, mixing until smooth.

  3. Fold in the grated chocolate.

Finish and serve

  1. Once the cake is cool, spread the dressing on top and cut into diamond slices.

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. 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

Butter
Adds fat and richness, giving the cake a tender crumb.
Eggs
Provide structure and richness, and help bind the batter as it sets.
Flour
Forms the structure of the cake as the batter sets in the oven.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise and become light.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender texture when creamed with butter.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavour and richness to the dressing.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whipped egg whites trap air that gives the dressing its light, airy body. Under-beaten whites stay runny, while over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy, so the fold-in with chocolate will not hold together well.

“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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