Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Scald one and three-fourths cups milk.
Add corn-starch diluted with remaining milk.
Cook eight minutes in double boiler.
Make the chocolate
Melt chocolate over hot water, add four tablespoons powdered sugar and hot water, and stir until smooth.
Combine and finish
Add chocolate mixture to cooked milk mixture.
Beat whites of eggs until stiff, adding powdered sugar gradually while continuing to beat.
Add unbeaten yolks and stir into cooked mixture.
Cook one minute.
Add vanilla.
Cool before serving.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| 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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the thickened sauce is built on.
- Corn-starch
- Thickens the milk as its starch swells when heated.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main chocolate flavor and body to the sauce.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the beaten whites hold their structure.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the sauce and help thicken it as they cook.
- Vanilla
- Adds aroma that rounds out the chocolate flavor.
The step that matters
Stir the yolks into the cooked mixture and cook one minute. Egg yolks can curdle or turn grainy if the sauce is too hot or boils hard. Keep the heat moderate, stir constantly, and cook only for the stated minute so the yolks thicken smoothly.
“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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