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Dessert

Chocolate Jelly with Custard

A dessert of chocolate jelly combined with a custard base.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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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 Jelly with Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chocolate jelly

  1. Soak the gelatin in cold water.

  2. Melt the gelatin.

  3. Add boiling water, salt, and sugar to the melted gelatin.

  4. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.

  5. Add boiling water to the chocolate and cook until thick.

  6. Gradually stir in boiling water until smooth.

  7. Remove from heat.

  8. Once cool, stir in the gelatin mixture.

  9. Set the mixture in ice water.

  10. Stir until thick.

  11. Pour into a mold.

  12. Refrigerate until solid.

Make the custard

  1. Beat egg yolks with sugar and salt.

  2. Add boiling milk.

  3. Cook in a double boiler for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

  4. Add vanilla or preferred flavoring.

  5. Serve with the chocolate jelly.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, 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

Gelatin
Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable jelly as it cools.
Chocolate
Provides the main flavour and deep colour of the jelly.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they cook and add richness.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding creaminess.
Sugar
Sweetens both the jelly and the custard.

The step that matters

Stirring the custard in the double boiler. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if overheated, so cooking gently over simmering water while stirring constantly lets them thicken smoothly into a custard.

“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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