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 Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the gelatine in the quart of milk.
Grate the chocolate into the milk and sweeten to taste.
Cook and set
Place in a double boiler and cook for 20 minutes, stirring constantly.
Pour into a mold and refrigerate until congealed.
Serve
Serve with sweetened cream flavored with a little vanilla.
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.
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).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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
- Gelatine
- Sets the milk and chocolate mixture into a firm, sliceable custard when chilled.
- Baker's chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavour and colour, and adds richness to the milk.
- Rich milk
- Forms the liquid base that carries the chocolate and gelatine and gives the custard its body.
- Sweetened cream
- Adds cool, creamy richness that contrasts with the firm, chocolate custard.
The step that matters
Dissolving and cooking the gelatine mixture gently. Gelatine must be fully dissolved before chilling, or it will set unevenly. Constant stirring in a double boiler heats the milk gently, which helps prevent scorching and lumps in the chocolate.
“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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