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 ↓
Devil 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 batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the egg, sour milk, baking soda, and vanilla extract; mix well.
Stir in the melted chocolate and pastry flour until combined.
Finally, add the boiling water and mix until smooth.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Let cool and frost with your choice of white frosting.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas, helping the cake rise and turn light.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and tenderizes the crumb.
- Pastry flour
- Provides the structure of the cake with a fine, tender crumb due to lower protein.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a soft, tender texture.
- Melted chocolate
- Adds chocolate flavor and deep color to the cake.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender texture when creamed with butter.
The step that matters
Add the boiling water last and mix until smooth. The boiling water thins the batter and dissolves the cocoa-like chocolate evenly, so the batter pours smoothly. Mixing only until smooth avoids overworking the flour, which would toughen the 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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