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 Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Combine four tablespoons grated chocolate, one pint water, yolks of two eggs, two tablespoons corn starch, and one cup of sugar, beating until the mixture is the size of an egg.
Boil the mixture until thick.
Assemble and bake
Pour the thick mixture into a baked crust.
Whip the whites of the eggs and spread them on top of the pie.
Brown the pie in the oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chocolate + corntop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together987 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Chocolate + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn starch
- Starch granules swell and thicken the filling as it heats.
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken and enrich the filling; whipped whites form a light topping.
- Grated chocolate
- Adds chocolate flavor and color to the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the chocolate.
The step that matters
Boiling the filling until thick. Cornstarch only thickens fully once it reaches a boil, so the filling must be cooked until it visibly thickens. Undercooked starch leaves a runny filling that will not set properly when cooled.
“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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