Why it works: Egg and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,448 recipes. Both carry 2-heptenal, which smells green. The science ↓
Chocolate Tarts
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grate the chocolate and set aside.
Dissolve the cornstarch in a small amount of water.
Make the filling
In a bowl, beat the egg whites and yolks together.
Add the grated chocolate and dissolved cornstarch to the egg mixture and mix until well combined.
Bake
Pour the mixture into tart shells and bake for 20-25 minutes.
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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Egg + chocolatetop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set when baked, giving the filling its firm, sliceable structure.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main chocolate flavor, richness and fat to the filling.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the filling as it heats, helping it hold its shape.
The step that matters
Dissolve the cornstarch fully before adding it. Cornstarch clumps if added dry or undissolved. Dissolving it in water first lets the starch disperse evenly, so it thickens the filling smoothly instead of leaving lumps.
“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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