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Dessert

Brown Nut Cake

A chocolate and walnut cake with a brown icing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 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 ↓

Brown Nut Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA very moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

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

  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

  3. Sift the flour with the baking powder.

  4. Gradually add the milk and some of the flour to the butter mixture, mixing well.

  5. Dissolve the chocolate in the boiling water and add it to the batter.

  6. Fold in the chopped walnuts and the beaten egg whites, then add the vanilla extract.

  7. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 40 to 60 minutes.

Make the icing

  1. For the icing, mix the sugar, egg, cream, and enough chocolate to achieve a delicate brown color.

  2. Cook the icing mixture in a double boiler, stirring constantly until it thickens.

  3. Remove from heat, beat well, and spread on the warm cake.

  4. Sprinkle the finely chopped nuts on top of the icing.

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

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

  5. Walnut + vanillatop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,730 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Eggs
Whites trap air when beaten and fold in, giving the cake lift and a light crumb.
Butter
Creaming with sugar traps air and adds richness and a tender texture.
Flour
Builds the cake's structure as its proteins set during baking.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cake rises.
Unsweetened chocolate
Adds deep flavor and the brown color of the cake.
Walnuts
Add crunch and a nutty flavor that contrasts with the soft crumb.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Beaten whites hold air that gives the cake its rise. Stirring them in vigorously deflates the foam, leaving a dense cake, so fold gently until just combined.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sugar, flour, milk, chocolate, vanilla):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Hazelnutfits better
  3. Chestnutfits better
  4. Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sugar, flour, milk, chocolate, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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