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 Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Combine egg yolks, grated chocolate, flour, sugar, milk, and a little butter in a saucepan.
Cook over low heat until thickened, then add vanilla.
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and bake until set.
Top and serve
Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Spread the meringue over the pie and brown slightly in the oven.
Serve cold.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the filling as they set with heat, giving it a rich, custard-like body.
- Grated chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavour and colour of the filling.
- Flour
- Helps thicken the filling so it holds its shape when cut.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard filling.
- Egg whites
- Whipped with sugar to form the meringue topping that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Cooking the filling over low heat. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if heated too fast. Gentle, low heat lets the filling thicken smoothly as the starch and yolks set.
“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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