Why it works: Sugar and chocolate 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 1 cup sugar, yolks of 3 eggs, a small piece of butter, and 1 teaspoon flour; wet with a little cold water, 1 cup sweet milk, and 2 large tablespoons grated chocolate.
Beat all together and cook until done.
Flavor with Royce's vanilla.
Assemble and bake
Bake crust and fill with the mixture.
Beat the whites of 3 eggs to a stiff froth, then add 1 tablespoon sugar.
Spread over pie and brown in oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
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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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and enrich it, while whites whip into a stiff foam for the topping.
- Flour
- Starch thickens the chocolate custard so it sets into a sliceable filling.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard that the flour and eggs thicken.
- Chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavor and deep color of the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps the whipped whites hold their foam.
The step that matters
Cook the custard until done. The flour starch and egg yolks only thicken fully once the custard reaches a full boil, and the filling must be properly set before the topping goes on. Undercooked starch leaves a thin, runny filling, so the custard should be cooked through before filling the crust.
“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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