Why it works: Sugar and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the sauce
Mix sugar and cornstarch together.
Add to boiling water and cook thoroughly with the cinnamon stick.
Remove the cinnamon stick.
Finish the sauce
Soften the chocolate in a cup set in warm water.
Add the softened chocolate to the mixture.
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.
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + chocolatetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,808 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and body to the sauce.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth, glossy sauce as it cooks.
- Chocolate
- Provides rich chocolate flavor and a smooth, creamy texture.
- Cinnamon stick
- Infuses the syrup with warm aroma while it cooks.
The step that matters
Cook the cornstarch thoroughly. Cornstarch thickens only when it is fully heated in boiling liquid. If it is undercooked, the sauce stays thin and can taste raw and starchy.
“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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