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Dessert

Chocolate Pie

A chocolate pie with a meringue topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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 Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

  2. In a saucepan, beat together the milk, chocolate, and syrup until combined.

  3. Add the butter and pour the mixture over the well-beaten egg yolks.

  4. Pour the filling into a partially baked pie crust and bake until set.

Top and finish

  1. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add the sugar until stiff peaks form.

  2. Spread the meringue over the pie and return it to the oven to set and brown the meringue.

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. Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  5. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

Vanilla and sugar 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 yolks
Thicken the chocolate filling into a set custard as they cook.
Egg whites
Whip into a meringue that gives the pie a light, airy topping.
Sugar
Stabilizes the whipped egg whites and sweetens the meringue.
Chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavor and color of the filling.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the filling, adding richness and body.
Syrup
Sweetens the filling and adds moisture to the custard.

The step that matters

Pouring the warm mixture over the egg yolks. Adding hot liquid to yolks too quickly can scramble them. Pour slowly while whisking the yolks so they warm gradually and the filling stays smooth and creamy.

“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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