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 Custards
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
Scald the milk in a saucepan.
Stir in the grated chocolate and simmer for 2 minutes until dissolved.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar.
Add the egg yolk mixture to the hot chocolate mixture.
Stir for 1 minute.
Season with vanilla extract.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into cups placed in a pan of boiling water, ensuring they are half submerged.
Cook slowly for about 20 minutes, or until the custards are firm.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, 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
- Eggs
- Egg yolks thicken the custard as they heat and set it into a firm, smooth texture.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that the eggs set into a creamy custard.
- Grated chocolate
- Gives the custard its chocolate flavour and colour as it dissolves into the hot milk.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and softens the set slightly.
The step that matters
Cook slowly in the water bath. Egg proteins set at moderate heat, so cooking slowly in a half-submerged water bath keeps the custard smooth. Too much heat can curdle or weep it.
“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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