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Dessert

Chocolate Caramel Cake

A chocolate cake with a caramel sauce made from brown sugar, milk, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 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 ↓

Chocolate Caramel 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.

Make the chocolate mixture

  1. Mix grated chocolate and granulated sugar in a saucepan, then add milk and boil until thick, stirring constantly.

  2. Set aside to cool.

Make the cake batter

  1. Cream butter and light brown sugar together in a mixing bowl.

  2. Add beaten eggs and mix well.

  3. Stir in ⅓ cup of flour and the cooled chocolate mixture.

  4. Gradually add the remaining flour, milk, and baking powder, and mix until smooth.

  5. Pour the batter into two greased cake pans.

Bake and ice

  1. Bake at 350°F (175°C) until a toothpick comes out clean.

  2. Combine brown sugar, milk, and butter in a saucepan and boil for 30 minutes or until thick.

  3. When the icing is almost cold, spread it over the cake.

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. Milk + buttertop 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. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Light brown sugar
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a caramel-like flavor to the cake.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and richness to the batter and icing.

The step that matters

Let the icing cool before spreading it. Icing spread while still hot will run off the cake and soak in unevenly. As it cools it thickens, giving a smooth, set coating.

“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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