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Dessert

Chocolate Bavabian Obbau

A chocolate dessert made with cream, milk, chocolate, sugar, gelatin, eggs, vanilla, and custard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ladies' Benevolent Society, First Congregational Church (Fall River, Mass .). Ladies' Benevolent Society, Mass.) First Congregational Church (Fall River · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 19,187 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Chocolate Bavabian Obbau

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chocolate base

  1. Soak one half box of gelatin in half cup milk for two hours.

  2. Whip one pint of cream stiff.

  3. Scrape one square Baker's chocolate and add two tablespoonfuls sugar; put in a small pan with one tablespoonful of hot water and stir over hot fire until smooth and glossy.

  4. Add gelatin, milk and the rest of sugar; strain into a bowl.

  5. Put the mixture into a pan of ice water and beat until it begins to thicken.

  6. Add the whipped cream and mold the mixture.

Make the custard

  1. Soak one quarter box of gelatin in one quarter cup cold water.

  2. Dissolve the gelatin in three quarters cup boiling water.

  3. Make a custard with the yolks of three eggs beaten, mixed with three tablespoonfuls sugar and a little salt.

  4. Pour the custard over one pint of hot milk and cook in a double boiler until it thickens.

  5. Add the strained gelatin water, one teaspoon vanilla, and the whites of the eggs beaten stiff.

  6. Mix well and turn into molds.

By Ladies' Benevolent Society, First Congregational Church (Fall River, Mass .). Ladies' Benevolent Society, Mass.) First Congregational Church (Fall River. 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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together43,450 recipes

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

  5. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together5,466 recipes

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

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,032 recipes mention both: they likely 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
Whipped to stiff peaks, it lightens the set mixture and gives a soft, creamy texture.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
Eggs
Yolks thicken the custard and whites, beaten stiff, add lightness to the final mixture.
Baker's chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavour and, melted smooth, colours the mixture.

The step that matters

Beating the chocolate mixture over ice water. Beating while it cools thickens it evenly and keeps it airy; if it sets fully before the cream is folded in, the mixture can turn lumpy and dense.

“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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