Why it works: Sugar and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Vanilla Ice Cream with Hot Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Combine sugar, water, and cinnamon stick in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture thickens moderately.
Stir in cornstarch and grated chocolate, cooking until well combined.
Serve
Serve the hot chocolate sauce over vanilla ice cream.
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.
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + chocolatetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,808 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth, pourable sauce as it heats.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps give it body as it cooks.
- Grated chocolate
- Provides the main chocolate flavour and richness to the sauce.
The step that matters
Stirring in the cornstarch and chocolate. Cornstarch must be heated with liquid to thicken; if the sauce is not kept at a boil for a moment and stirred, it can stay thin or form lumps. Stirring keeps the starch dispersed evenly as it thickens.
“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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