Why it works: Butter and milk 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 says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter, sugar, and egg yolks together.
Melt the chocolate and stir it into the mixture.
Add half of the flour and mix well.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and add it to the mixture.
Stir in the remaining flour until combined.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a long bread tin and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Once cooled, cut the cake in half and stack the layers.
Ice the cake with boiled icing.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- Eggs
- Egg yolks enrich the batter and whites, beaten stiff and folded in, give the cake lift and a light crumb.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it traps air and adds fat for a tender, rich texture.
- Flour
- Forms the cake's structure once mixed with the liquids and eggs.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic chocolate and milk to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps create a light texture.
- Unsweetened baker's chocolate
- Adds chocolate flavour, colour and some richness to the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stiff whites hold air that gives the cake lift. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air in the batter so the cake rises well and stays 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.
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