Why it works: Sugar and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, egg yolks, and water. Mix until smooth and pour into paper-lined pans, about ½ inch thick.
Bake until done, then remove from pans and let cool.
Cut the cakes into pieces measuring 1×3 inches.
Make the chocolate coating
For the chocolate mixture, boil white sugar and water until it reaches the thread stage (230°F).
Add chocolate to the mixture and stir until melted.
Dip the cake pieces in the warm chocolate mixture.
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.
-
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + chocolatetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,994 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten structure that sets the cake's crumb.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and emulsify the batter, helping it bind and set when baked.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown lightly and stay tender.
- Chocolate
- Gives the coating its flavor and, melted into the syrup, a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Boiling the sugar and water to the thread stage. Sugar syrup must reach about 230°F to become thick enough to coat the cake and set firm as it cools. Undercooked syrup stays runny, and overcooked syrup turns grainy or hard.
“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 chocolate cake recipes
You might also like
Chocolate Cream171 recipes
Chocolate Cookies76 recipes
Chocolate Fudge55 recipes
Chocolate Drop Cookies50 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.