Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Chocolate Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chocolate
Scrape fine a quarter of a pound of the best chocolate, and pour on it a tea-cup of boiling water.
Cover the chocolate mixture and let it stand by the fire until it has dissolved, stirring it twice.
Make the custard
Beat eight eggs very light, omitting the whites of two.
Stir the beaten eggs by degrees into a quart of cream or rich milk, alternately with the melted chocolate and three table-spoonfuls of powdered white sugar.
Pat the mixture into cups and bake it about ten minutes.
Serve
Serve the custards cold, with sweetened cream or white of egg beaten to a stiff froth, heaped on the top of each custard.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| 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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Set the custard as they cook, giving it a firm, sliceable body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and fat, giving the custard a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Chocolate (in the method)
- Provides the main flavour and, melted, colours and thickens the custard base.
- Powdered white sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Stirring the eggs into the cream. Adding beaten eggs too quickly to warm liquid can scramble them. Adding them by degrees, while stirring, tempers the mixture so it sets smooth.
“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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