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.
Make the batter
Cream the butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the beaten egg yolks and mix well.
Stir in the milk.
Sift the flour with the baking powder and gradually add to the mixture.
Fold in the melted chocolate.
Gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Bake
Pour the batter into prepared cake pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) until a toothpick comes out clean.
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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, moisture and emulsifying fat that binds the batter.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, lifting the batter so the cake rises.
- Egg whites
- Whipped stiff to add air and lift, making the cake lighter when folded in.
- Chocolate
- Adds chocolate flavour and fat, enriching the crumb and deepening colour.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiffly beaten whites hold air that gives lift. Stirring them vigorously deflates the foam, so fold gently with a spatula until just combined for a light, well-risen cake.
“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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