Name: Chocolate Cake
Ingredients: ½ cup butter; 1 cup sugar; 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted; 2 eggs; ½ cup milk; 1½ cups all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; vanilla extract

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

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

Cream the butter in a bowl.
Gradually add the sugar and beat until combined.
Mix in the melted chocolate and eggs.
Stir in the milk, flour, baking powder, and vanilla until smooth.

Bake and finish

Pour the batter into a buttered shallow cake pan.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.
Use any frosting of your choice.

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.

Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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

Butter: Adds fat and richness, contributing to a tender crumb and flavor.
Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
All-purpose flour: Provides the main structure that sets the cake's crumb as it bakes.
Baking powder: Releases gas when heated, helping the cake rise and turn light.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and keep moisture.
Unsweetened chocolate: Gives the cake its chocolate flavor and deep color.

“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.