Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, heat the cream or milk and granulated sugar until hot.
Add the dissolved chocolate and bring to a boil.
Stir in the butter and continue stirring until the mixture creams when beaten on a saucer.
Once thick, remove from heat and beat until cool.
Pour onto greased plates and cut into squares.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chocolate + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,543 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream or rich milk
- Adds fat and liquid that make the fudge smooth and rich.
- Granulated sugar
- Dissolves into the liquid and sets into a firm, sweet crystalline texture as it cools.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main chocolate flavour and firms the fudge as it sets.
- Butter
- Adds fat that gives a smoother, softer texture and richer mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Beating until cool. Beating while the mixture cools encourages fine sugar crystals to form, giving a smooth, creamy texture. Pouring or cutting too early, or beating too late, can leave the fudge grainy or too soft to hold its shape.
“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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