Name: Chocolate Cake
Ingredients: 1 cup milk; 2 cups sugar; 3 cups flour; 4 egg whites; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; 1 cup grated chocolate

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

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.

Prepare the cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix milk, sugar, flour, egg whites, baking soda, and cream of tartar until smooth.
Pour the batter into two flat tins (5x10 inches) or a large dripping pan.

Bake and finish

Bake until done, then divide the cake crosswise when cool.
For frosting, dissolve grated chocolate in a dish over low heat.

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,128 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 together as it bakes.
Egg whites: Trap air and set during baking, giving the cake lift and a light structure.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Cream of tartar: Acidifies the batter, stabilizing the egg whites and helping the cake rise.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and contributes to browning and a tender crumb.
Grated chocolate: Adds chocolate flavor and, melted, makes the frosting.

“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.