Name: Chocolate Cream Cake
Ingredients: ½ cup sugar; 1 egg; 3 tablespoons melted butter; 1 ounce baker's chocolate, dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water; ½ pint (1 cup) flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; whipped cream, for topping; vanilla extract, for flavoring

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 ↓

Chocolate Cream 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

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, beat together the sugar and egg until well combined.
Add the melted butter and the dissolved chocolate mixture, and mix well.
Stir in the flour and baking powder until just combined.

Bake and serve

Pour the batter into a round cake tin and bake for about 25‑30 minutes.
Let the cake cool completely.
Before serving, cover the cake with whipped cream flavored with vanilla.

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.

Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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: Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
Flour: Forms the main structure of the cake crumb as it bakes.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the heat, helping the cake rise and turn light.
Butter: Adds fat for tenderness and a richer mouthfeel in the crumb.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps give it a tender, browned crust.
Baker's chocolate: Gives the cake its chocolate flavor and deep color.

“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.