Name: Chocolate Custards
Ingredients: two ounces of fine sugar; two ounces of chocolate; three ounces of sugar; a wineglassful of water; a pint of milk well flavoured; a pint of milk; a pint of cream; an ounce of isinglass in the milk; five well-beaten eggs which have been strained; eight yolks of eggs; 1 pint; 1/4 pint; 1/2 pint; three quarters of an ounce of isinglass in the milk; lemon peel

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,128 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,053 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Well-beaten eggs set the custard as they heat and thicken it into a spoonable texture.
Milk: Provides the liquid base of the custard, giving body and a creamy mouthfeel.
Chocolate: Supplies the chocolate flavour and colour of the custard.
Sugar: Adds sweetness to balance the chocolate and milk.

The step that matters

Thicken the custard in a water bath. Egg proteins set gradually as the custard heats. Gentle, continuous stirring in a pan of boiling water keeps the heat even, so the custard thickens smoothly without curdling or scrambling.

Swap the lemon

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

Vanillafits better
Coconutfits better
Raspberryfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, chocolate, milk, cream, egg. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Water	not in our table	0

Chocolate Custards