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Dessert

Chocolate Pie

A chocolate custard pie baked in a pastry crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Chocolate Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the crust

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Line a deep pie plate with rich pastry.

  3. Bake the crust until light brown.

Make the filling

  1. Melt the chocolate in the milk over low heat.

  2. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl.

  3. Dissolve the cornstarch in a little milk and add it to the egg mixture.

  4. Combine the egg mixture with the melted chocolate and milk, cooking until thick while stirring constantly.

  5. Remove from heat and let cool.

  6. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold half into the chocolate mixture.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and top with the remaining egg whites, sweetened to taste.

  2. Brown lightly in the oven.

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. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavor that defines the filling.
Egg yolks
Thicken the filling as they cook and add richness.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they give the topping lightness and a browned meringue finish.
Cornstarch
Thickens the chocolate custard as it cooks, giving it a set, sliceable body.
Milk
Liquid base that melts the chocolate and forms the custard.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps stabilize the egg whites.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard until thick. Cornstarch thickens only when the mixture reaches a boil, and egg yolks can curdle if overheated. Stirring constantly over low heat spreads the heat evenly, so the custard sets smoothly without lumps or scorching.

“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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