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 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
Melt the Baker's chocolate and mix it with 5 teaspoons of powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of boiling water until smooth.
In a bowl, cream together the melted butter and remaining powdered sugar.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the milk and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder, then gradually add to the wet mixture.
Fold in the melted chocolate mixture.
Bake and assemble
Pour the batter into prepared cake pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) until a toothpick comes out clean.
Layer the cake with boiled icing.
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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, binding the batter as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the cake rise and turn light.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor, and helps the batter feel rich.
- Baker's chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavor and deep color of the cake.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the batter a fine, tender texture.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs one at a time. Beating each egg in fully before the next keeps the batter emulsified, so it stays smooth and holds air for an even rise.
“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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