Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
Stir in the egg yolks and melted chocolate until fully incorporated.
Bake and assemble
Pour the batter into prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Use the egg whites for the second cake.
Repeat the previous steps with the egg whites.
Layer the cakes with frosting in between.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness, and creaming it traps air that helps the cake rise.
- Brown sugar
- Adds moisture, sweetness and a caramel-like flavor, and helps the crumb stay soft.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and emulsify the batter, helping fat and liquid blend smoothly.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, causing the cake to rise and become light.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and adds moisture, contributing to a tender texture.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding the flour mixture in portions lets it blend evenly without overworking the gluten, which keeps the cake tender. Adding it all at once can leave lumps or create a tough texture.
“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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