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 ↓
Marbled 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. 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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the flour and baking powder, mixing until combined.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites and milk into the batter, then add vanilla extract.
Take out 1½ cups of the batter and mix in the grated chocolate moistened with a little milk and additional vanilla.
Marble and bake
Pour a layer of the white batter into a greased cake pan.
Drop spoonfuls of the chocolate batter onto the white batter in spots.
Spread the remaining white batter over the chocolate batter.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted 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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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
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to trap air, giving a tender, rich crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a light, fluffy texture when creamed.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they add lift and an airy, light structure.
- Grated chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavour and the dark marbled streaks in the cake.
The step that matters
Folding the whipped egg whites into the batter. Folding gently keeps the air bubbles in the whipped whites. Stirring or deflating them makes the cake dense instead of light.
“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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