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Drink

Cafe Au Lait

A chocolate milk beverage made with boiling water, cocoa, milk, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Elizabeth Lyles Wilson (1860–1924) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Cafe Au Lait

Why it works: Cocoa and milk work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 643 recipes. Both carry methyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Cafe Au Lait

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Combine 2 cups boiling water with 2 tablespoons cocoa.

  2. Add 2 cups milk and 1-3 cups sugar.

  3. Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Rest and serve

  1. Let the mixture stand for up to an hour before serving.

  2. Add vanilla if desired.

  3. Add egg yolks if desired.

  4. Serve with whipped cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

353Calories
9 gProtein
17 gFat
42 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mary Elizabeth Lyles Wilson (1860–1924). 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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Cocoa + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together643 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Cocoa + sugartop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together956 recipes

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

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Cocoa
Gives the drink its chocolate flavor and deep color.
Milk
Adds creamy body and mellows the bitterness of the cocoa.
Sugar
Sweetens the drink and balances the bitterness of the cocoa.

The step that matters

Heat until the sugar dissolves. Stirring over low heat until the sugar fully dissolves keeps the drink smooth and evenly sweet. Undissolved sugar leaves grains at the bottom and uneven sweetness in each cup.

Swap the cocoa

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar):

  1. Cocoathe original
  2. Almondfits about as well
  3. Chestnutfits about as well
  4. Peanutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar. 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.

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