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 Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the gelatine in cold water to cover for 1 hour.
Boil the milk in a saucepan.
Make the chocolate cream
Scrape the chocolate and mix it with the sugar.
Moisten the chocolate mixture with 3 tablespoons of the boiling milk.
Stir in the soaked gelatine and the egg yolks.
Stir briskly for 3 minutes, then strain the mixture.
Add the vanilla and strain again into moulds.
Chill and serve
Cool the moulds in the refrigerator.
Serve with sugar and 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.
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 + 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 liquid cream so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken and enrich the cream, adding richness and body.
- French chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavour and dark colour of the cream.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the other ingredients thicken.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the cream and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Stir in the soaked gelatine and the egg yolks. Gelatine must be fully dissolved and the egg yolks must be mixed in evenly, or the cream may set with lumps or streaks. Stirring briskly helps the yolks thicken smoothly without curdling.
“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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