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 Corn Starch
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
Pour boiling milk over grated chocolate.
Add corn starch, beaten eggs, cold milk, sugar, and vanilla to the melted chocolate.
Boil all together for one minute, stirring briskly.
Serve
Pour into molds and serve cold with cream.
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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Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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
- Corn starch
- Thickens the pudding as it boils, giving it a firm, sliceable set.
- Eggs
- Add richness and help set the custard once heated.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and colour of the pudding.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch thickens into a smooth pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Boil all together for one minute, stirring briskly. Corn starch only thickens fully once it reaches boiling, and constant stirring prevents lumps and keeps the eggs from scrambling on the hot base of the pan.
“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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