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Dessert

Chocolate-cake

A butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg cake topped with a chocolate glaze.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 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-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 cake

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

  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

  3. Add the flour, milk, and beaten eggs, mixing well.

  4. Stir in the baking soda and cream of tartar (or baking powder).

  5. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make the chocolate filling and assemble

  1. Once baked, cut the cake in half or into layers.

  2. For the chocolate mixture, combine grated chocolate with enough cream or milk to wet it.

  3. Add sugar and a beaten egg, then stir over low heat until well mixed.

  4. Flavor the chocolate mixture with vanilla.

  5. Spread the chocolate mixture between the layers and on top and sides 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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

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 light, fluffy crumb and tender texture.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness as the cake sets in the oven.
Flour
Forms the main structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acid of cream of tartar or with the batter to produce gas that lifts the cake.
Cream of tartar or baking powder
Provides acid or leavening that works with the baking soda so the cake rises evenly.
Grated chocolate
Gives the chocolate mixture its flavor and rich, dark color.

The step that matters

Stirring the chocolate mixture over low heat. Gentle heat melts and blends the chocolate smoothly with the sugar and egg; high heat can scorch the chocolate or scramble the egg, leaving a grainy filling.

“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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Filling 18French 14Marbled 13Black 11Dark 10Marble 7 See all 565 →

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