Name: Chocolate Rice Cheesecake
Ingredients: Nut Crust:; 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs; 2/3 cup finely chopped walnuts; 2 tablespoons sugar; 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine; Filling; 12 ounces cream cheese, softened; 3/4 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder; Dash of salt; 2 eggs; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups cooked rice; 1 8-ounce bar milk chocolate, melted*; 1/2 cup chopped walnuts for garnish; Sour Cream Topping; 1/2 cup sour cream; 2 tablespoons sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Why it works: Butter and cream cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,747 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

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.

Butter + cream cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,747 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Walnut + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Cocoa powder + vanillatop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,189 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Walnut + vanillatop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,730 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Sugar and vanilla 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

Cream cheese: Provides the rich, creamy body that sets into a dense, smooth filling.
Eggs: Bind the filling and help it set firm as it bakes.
Milk chocolate: Adds chocolate flavour and richness, along with fat that softens the set.
Cooked rice: Adds a light, grainy texture that breaks up the dense cheese filling.
Graham cracker crumbs: Form the base of the crust, holding the butter and nuts together.
Sour cream: Gives the topping a tangy flavour and a soft, creamy finish.

The step that matters

Do not overbeat the filling. Beating too much after adding eggs and rice traps air and can make the cheesecake puff, crack and then sink as it cools. Mixing only until blended keeps the texture smooth and dense.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, cream cheese, cocoa powder, egg, vanilla, rice):

Almondfits better
Hazelnutfits about as well
Pecansfits about as well
Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, cream cheese, cocoa powder, egg, vanilla, rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cracker	5 saltine crackers (15g)	66
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Nut	not in our table	0
Topping	not in our table	0

Chocolate Rice Cheesecake