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
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 sugar and butter.
Add the milk and flour, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and add to the batter.
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Make the chocolate
Grate the chocolate and stir it into ½ cup of milk.
Boil the chocolate mixture in a dish set in hot water until it forms a paste.
Add 1 cup of sugar and the yolk of one egg to the chocolate paste and let it cool slightly.
Stir the chocolate mixture into the cake batter.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Layer the cakes and frost with white boiled frosting.
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.
-
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Whites trap air for lift, and yolks add richness and help bind the batter.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, making the cake rise and become light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps keep it moist and tender.
- Chocolate
- Gives the cake its chocolate flavour and deep colour.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. The whites hold air bubbles that give the cake its lift. Vigorous stirring knocks that air out, so the cake bakes up dense and flat instead of light.
“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.
More chocolate cake recipes
You might also like
Chocolate Cream171 recipes
Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes
Chocolate Cookies76 recipes
Chocolate Fudge55 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.