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Dessert

Chocolate Cream Cake

A layered chocolate cake with a chocolate cream filling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 Cream 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.

Make the batter

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

  2. Beat the yolks of the eggs.

  3. Add sugar, butter, milk, and flour mixed with baking powder.

  4. Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.

  5. Pour the batter into jelly cake pans.

Bake and make the cream

  1. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

  2. Combine grated chocolate, sugar, cornstarch, milk, and vanilla in a saucepan.

  3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.

  4. Let the cream cool.

Assemble

  1. Spread the cooled cream between the layers of the cake.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

  5. 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

Eggs
Yolks enrich the batter, and whipped whites add lift and a light, airy crumb.
All-purpose flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cake rises.
Plain chocolate
Gives the cream its chocolate flavor and body when melted into the thickened mixture.
Cornstarch
Thickens the chocolate cream so it can spread between the layers.

The step that matters

Cook the chocolate cream until thickened. Cornstarch thickens only when it is heated while stirred, and it needs to reach a simmer to reach full thickness. Stirring constantly prevents lumps and scorching on the bottom of the pan, and the cream must be fully cooled before spreading so it sets firm rather than sliding off the layers.

“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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