Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. 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. 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).
Cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the sweet milk and egg yolks, mixing well.
Sift together the flour and baking powder, then gradually add to the mixture.
Fold in the grated chocolate until evenly distributed.
Bake and assemble
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
For a layered cake, use the egg whites to make a white cake and alternate layers with 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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air, giving the cake a light, tender crumb and rich fat flavor.
- Brown sugar
- Creamed with butter to add sweetness, moisture, and a molasses-like depth.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure as its proteins set during baking.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness, emulsify the batter, and help give a tender, moist texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Grated baker's chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavor and some fat that contributes to a moist crumb.
The step that matters
Folding in the grated chocolate. Unmelted grated chocolate can clump or streak if not evenly distributed, leaving dense pockets and uneven flavor. Gentle folding keeps the batter's air intact so the cake stays 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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