Why it works: Sugar substitute and vanilla work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and 72 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, waxed paper or parchment paper.
Make the fudge
Beat the cream cheese, melted, cooled chocolate, sweetener and vanilla in a small mixing bowl until smooth.
Stir in nuts (if using) and pour the mixture into the pan.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Cut and serve
Cut into squares.
Serve chilled.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Sugar substitute + vanillatop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together72 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Chocolate + vanillatop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,018 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Chocolate + pecanstop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together804 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Cream cheese + pecanstop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together465 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Vanilla + pecanstop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,691 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream cheese
- Provides the creamy base and body that sets the fudge firm when chilled.
- Unsweetened chocolate
- Supplies the chocolate flavour and deep colour, and adds richness to the base.
- Sweetener (splenda)
- Adds sweetness in place of sugar, so the fudge stays low in carbohydrates.
“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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.