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Dessert

Chop Suey Chocolates

A confection of mincemeat, sugar, glucose, and brandy, shaped into balls and coated in bitter sweet chocolate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Chop Suey Chocolates

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mincemeat base

  1. In a large pot, combine sugar, ground mincemeat, cream of tartar, and water.

  2. Cook the mixture until it reaches 242°F (117°C).

  3. Pour the mixture onto a damp slab.

Cream and shape

  1. Add glucose and begin to cream the mixture until nearly done.

  2. Stir in brandy and finish creaming.

  3. Roll the mixture into small balls.

Dip and finish

  1. Dip each ball in melted bitter sweet chocolate.

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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Brandy + chocolatetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together287 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,635 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Provides sweetness and, when cooked, the syrup structure that sets the candy mass.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the syrup, helping prevent crystallisation for a smoother creamed texture.
Glucose
Interferes with sugar crystal formation, keeping the creamed mixture soft and smooth.
Ground mincemeat
Supplies the main fruit and spice flavour and some moisture to the mass.
Brandy
Adds aroma and flavour while contributing a little moisture to the creamed mixture.

The step that matters

Cooking the syrup to 242°F (117°C). Sugar concentration at this temperature determines how firm the candy sets. Undercooking leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it hard and grainy once creamed.

“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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