Why it works: Cocoa powder and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,920 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
On Tea and Coffee
Ingredients
Directions
Boil cocoa powder or cocoa paste with water.
Add sugar and milk to taste.
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.
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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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Cocoa powder + sugartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,920 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cocoa powder + milktop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,427 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
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