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Dessert

Caramel Cake

A baked cake with a caramel chocolate topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 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 batter

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

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

  3. Add the milk and mix well.

  4. Combine the flour, corn starch, and baking powder in a separate bowl.

  5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until smooth.

  6. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold them into the batter gently.

  7. Pour the batter into a long pan.

  8. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make the caramel and finish

  1. Combine the brown sugar, chocolate, and milk in a saucepan for the caramel.

  2. Add the butter and vanilla.

  3. Cook over medium heat until thickened.

  4. Spread the caramel over the cooled cake.

  5. Return to the oven to dry.

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. Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,943 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that lightens and raises the cake's crumb.
Butter
Creamed with sugar, it traps air and adds fat for a tender, rich texture.
Flour
Its proteins set with heat, giving the cake its structure.
Sugar
Creamed with butter, it aids aeration and adds sweetness and browning.
Baking powder
Releases gas when heated, helping the cake rise.
Brown sugar
Adds moisture, molasses flavour and depth to the caramel.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air in the whipped egg whites. Stirring or deflating them makes the cake denser and less light.

“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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