Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Plain Dark 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 bowl, mix melted butter and beaten egg until well combined.
Add flour and baking powder, and stir until smooth.
Dissolve baking soda in boiling water and add vanilla extract.
Combine the soda mixture with the batter and mix well.
Bake and assemble
Pour the batter into two greased cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Once cooled, layer the cakes with whipped cream in between and on top.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Vanilla + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness to the crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to help the cake rise and brown.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in boiling water. Baking soda needs to be fully dissolved and mixed evenly into the batter; clumps can leave bitter, soapy pockets and uneven rising, so the mixture should be stirred until no grains remain.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, flour, cream):
- Raisinfits about as well
- Vanillathe original
- Coconutfits less well
- Strawberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, flour, cream. 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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