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Dessert

Chocolate Cake

A layered chocolate cake with chocolate filling and chocolate topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 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 ↓

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.

Make the cake batter

  1. Cream together the sugar and butter.

  2. Beat the eggs until very light and add them to the mixture.

  3. Stir in the milk.

  4. Sift the flour with the baking powder and add it to the mixture.

  5. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla, mixing well.

Bake and fill

  1. Divide the batter into three layers and bake at 350°F (175°C).

  2. For the filling, heat 1 cup of milk and add the cornstarch mixed with a little cold milk.

  3. Stir in ½ cup sugar and the egg yolk, cooking until thick and smooth, preferably in a double boiler.

  4. Flavor with vanilla and spread between the layers.

Top and finish

  1. For the topping, beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold in the melted chocolate and powdered sugar to spread.

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. 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

Eggs
Beaten eggs give the cake structure and lift through trapped air and set proteins.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb once baked.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the layers rise and become light.
Butter
Creamed with sugar, it adds richness and a tender texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps create a fine, tender crumb.
Cornstarch
Thickens the filling as it cooks, giving it a smooth, spreadable body.

The step that matters

Cooking the filling until thick and smooth. Cornstarch must be heated fully to swell and thicken the milk. Undercooked, the filling stays runny and tastes starchy. Cooking gently in a double boiler and stirring helps prevent scorching and lumps, and the egg yolk also thickens as it heats.

“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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