Why it works: Milk and butter 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 and bake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix sugar, milk, flour, butter, egg, and baking powder until smooth.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the icing and finish
For icing, beat egg whites until stiff, then gradually add sugar and melted chocolate.
Spread icing over the cooled cake.
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 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).
Flour and butter 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
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness to the crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a richer flavour.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that gives the icing its light, airy texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep it moist and tender.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must be beaten to stiff peaks to trap air for a light icing. Sugar should be added gradually so the foam stays stable and does not collapse.
“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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