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Dessert

Chocolate Loaf Cake

A chocolate loaf cake made with chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs, milk, flour, vanilla, and baking powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Chocolate Loaf Cake

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 Loaf Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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

  1. Dissolve the chocolate in boiling water.

  2. Beat the butter until creamy, then gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat.

  3. Add the egg yolks and beat again.

  4. Stir in the milk and melted chocolate.

  5. Add the flour and mix well.

Finish and bake

  1. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the mixture.

  2. Add the vanilla and baking powder, mixing quickly and lightly.

  3. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Butter + flourtop 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

Butter
Creamed with sugar, it traps air and adds richness and a tender crumb.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that lifts the cake and gives it a light texture.
Egg yolks
Add fat and emulsifiers that enrich the batter and help it hold together.
Flour
Its proteins and starch form the cake's structure as the batter sets in the oven.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the heated batter, helping the cake rise.
Chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavour and some moisture and richness to the crumb.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold the air that lifts the cake. Stirring them in vigorously or overmixing after the flour and baking powder deflates the foam and toughens the crumb, so fold gently until just combined.

“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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