Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the cake
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix corn starch, flour, butter, sugar, egg whites, cream, cream of tartar, and baking soda until smooth.
Pour batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30–35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the icing
Beat the 4 egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Boil 1 pound of sugar in water until it reaches a soft ball stage.
Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup over the beaten egg whites while continuing to beat until nearly cold.
Melt chocolate in a small amount of the icing and mix in to taste.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and lift to the batter, and whipped to stiff peaks they give the icing its airy body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, when boiled, forms the syrup that sets the icing.
- Corn starch
- Softens the crumb by diluting the flour's gluten, giving a finer, more tender texture.
- Cream of tartar
- Stabilizes the whipped egg whites so the icing holds its peaks.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites. The syrup must be poured slowly while beating constantly. Pouring too fast can deflate the whites, and the hot syrup cooks them gently into a stable, glossy meringue icing.
“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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