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Dessert

Marble Cake

A cake with white and chocolate portions baked together.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Marble 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 light batter

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

  2. Cream the butter, then gradually add the sugar.

  3. Mix in the water, 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt.

  4. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture.

  5. Add the lemon juice and rind, then set aside.

Make the dark batter

  1. For the dark portion, beat the butter, brown sugar, and egg yolks until light.

  2. Mix in the water, remaining flour, melted chocolate, vanilla, and baking powder.

Assemble and bake

  1. Grease a cake pan and layer the white and dark mixtures alternately.

  2. Bake 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.

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. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

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

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that expands in the oven and lightens the crumb.
Flour
Forms the structure that holds the cake's shape as it sets.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor.
Sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps keep the crumb tender and moist.
Melted chocolate
Gives the dark portion its colour and chocolate flavor.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stiffly beaten whites hold air that makes the cake light. Stirring them in vigorously or too long deflates the foam, so the cake bakes up dense instead of airy.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Coconutfits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, egg, 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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