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Dessert

Chocolate Glazing

A simple glaze made from chocolate, butter, water, and powdered sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Chocolate Glazing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the glaze

  1. Melt the chocolate with the butter and water in a double boiler.

  2. Stir until smooth and well combined.

  3. Remove from heat and gradually add powdered sugar, mixing until glossy.

Use

  1. Use immediately to glaze cakes or pastries.

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. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Chocolate + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,543 recipes

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

  3. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Chocolate
Provides the main flavor and sets firm as it cools, giving the glaze its body.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and thickens the chocolate into a smooth, glossy coating.
Butter
Adds fat that keeps the glaze smooth and glossy as it cools.

The step that matters

Remove from heat before adding powdered sugar. Chocolate that is too hot can seize or turn grainy when sugar is mixed in, and a cooler mixture gives a smoother, glossier glaze. Add the sugar gradually so it dissolves evenly without 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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