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Chocolate Cranberry Cake with Chocolate Icing Chocolate Cranberry Cake with Chocolate IcingChocolate Icing

By biggirlssmallkitchen · From Open Recipes · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Coffee and chocolate match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,497 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells buttery, creamy. The science ↓

The recipe

Adapted from Moosewood Cookbook: New Classics Makes 1 8-inch cake

Ingredients

Contains: wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By biggirlssmallkitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Coffee + chocolatetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,497 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).

  2. Cocoa powder + chocolatetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,587 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  3. Cocoa powder + coffeetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together541 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Vanilla + chocolatetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together10,018 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

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

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the safflower

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, sugar, coffee, vanilla, cider, vinegar):

  1. Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
  2. Clovebetter flavor fit
  3. Peppermintbetter flavor fit
  4. Safflowerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, cocoa powder, sugar, coffee, vanilla, cider, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).