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Dessert

Deviled Cake

A chocolate cake with a butter and sugar icing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 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 ↓

Deviled 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the batter

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

  2. In a bowl, cream together the butter and dark sugar until light and fluffy.

  3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

  4. Dissolve the cocoa in the boiling water and let it cool.

  5. Stir the cooled cocoa mixture into the butter mixture.

  6. In another bowl, combine the sour milk and baking soda, then add to the mixture.

  7. Gradually add the flour, mixing until just combined.

Bake and ice

  1. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

  2. For the icing, boil the brown sugar and sweet milk together with the butter until it reaches a soft ball stage.

  3. Remove from heat and flavor with vanilla before spreading over the cooled 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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

  4. Cocoa powder + vanillatop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  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
Creams with the sugar to trap air and give the cake a tender crumb.
Eggs
Add structure and richness, binding the batter as it sets in the oven.
All-purpose flour
Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
Baking soda
Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
Sour milk
Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds tenderness to the crumb.
Cocoa powder
Adds chocolate flavor and deep color to the cake.

The step that matters

Boiling the icing to soft ball stage. Sugar syrup must reach the right temperature to set properly; too little cooking leaves the icing runny, while too much makes it hard and grainy once it cools.

“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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