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- Mrs. John D. Stokes
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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the flour, sweet milk, eggs, baking powder, and vanilla; mix well.
Dissolve the grated chocolate in the boiling water and let it cool.
Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the batter and mix until combined.
Bake
Bake in layers 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 the cake a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the creamed butter hold air for a light texture.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Add structure, richness and moisture, and help bind the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the cake rise and become light.
- Chocolate, grated
- Adds chocolate flavour and colour to the batter.
The step that matters
Cooling the chocolate mixture before adding it. Hot chocolate liquid can deflate the creamed butter and loosen the batter, and it may partly cook the eggs. Letting it cool keeps the batter stable so the cake rises evenly.
“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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