Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the chocolate base
In a saucepan, combine grated chocolate and sugar with thick cream.
Boil while stirring continuously until smooth.
Allow to cool, then fold in beaten egg whites until well combined.
Assemble and serve
Half fill serving glasses with the mixture.
Whip remaining cream to a froth and top each glass.
Serve immediately.
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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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).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Chocolate + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and, melted into the cream, gives the mixture its body.
- Thick cream
- Adds richness and moisture, and forms the smooth base the chocolate melts into.
- Egg whites
- Beaten and folded in, they lighten the mixture and give it an airy, mousse-like texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the chocolate and cream base and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites trap air when beaten, and that air gives the cream its lightness. Folding gently keeps it; stirring hard after cooling deflates the foam and leaves a dense result.
“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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