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Porcupine Chocolate Cake

A chocolate cake decorated with almond strips resembling a porcupine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Porcupine 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 cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until well combined.

  3. Melt the German sweet chocolate and add it to the yolk mixture.

  4. Incorporate the finely ground almonds, lemon rind, and vanilla extract.

  5. Fold in the beaten egg whites until just combined.

  6. Pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes.

Frost and decorate

  1. For the frosting, mix 1 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons cocoa, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

  2. Add hot water gradually until the frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.

  3. Frost the cooled cake and decorate with blanched almond strips to resemble a porcupine.

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.

  1. Almond + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Almond + chocolatetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,733 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Vanilla + cocoa powdertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

Egg whites
Beaten whites fold in air, lightening the batter and giving the cake its rise and texture.
Egg yolks
Yolks enrich the batter, adding richness, moisture and a tender crumb.
German sweet chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavor and fat that give the cake its dense, moist body.
Finely ground almonds
Add moisture, fat and a tender, nutty texture in place of some flour.
Sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps the yolks whip to a smooth, stable base.

The step that matters

Fold in the beaten egg whites until just combined. Egg whites hold air only while whole; overmixing deflates the foam and makes the cake dense, while underfolding leaves streaks and uneven rise.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, almond, chocolate, vanilla, cocoa powder):

  1. Coconutfits better
  2. Cherryfits better
  3. Raspberryfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, almond, chocolate, vanilla, cocoa powder. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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