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Dessert

Chocolate Tarts

A tart filled with a chocolate custard topped with meringue.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Chocolate Tarts

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chocolate custard

  1. Rub the grated chocolate smooth in the milk and heat to boiling.

  2. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and cook for 5 minutes until thickened.

  3. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl to cool slightly.

  4. Beat the yolks and 2 egg whites with the sugar until light.

  5. When the chocolate mixture is almost cold, combine it with the egg mixture and flavorings.

  6. Pour the mixture into pastry shells.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake the tarts.

  2. Beat the remaining egg whites with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon juice until stiff.

  3. Spread the meringue over the tarts.

  4. Bake until golden.

  5. Serve cold.

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. Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

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
Yolks thicken the custard and whites build the airy meringue topping.
Baker's chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavor and body of the filling.
Cornstarch
Thickens the chocolate mixture as it cooks and sets the filling.
Milk
Liquid that melts the chocolate and forms the custard base.
White sugar
Sweetens the filling and stabilizes the meringue.

The step that matters

Cool the chocolate mixture before combining with the eggs. If the chocolate is still hot when mixed with the beaten yolks, the eggs can scramble and the filling can turn grainy. Letting it nearly cool first keeps the custard smooth.

“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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