Skip to main content
Dessert

Cold Chocolate Pudding

A chilled chocolate pudding made with chocolate, milk, eggs, gelatin, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

Cold Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chocolate base

  1. Combine grated chocolate, milk, and cold water in a saucepan.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Dissolve gelatin in a small amount of warm water.

  4. Remove the boiling mixture from heat and let it cool slightly.

Thicken and set

  1. Whisk egg yolks in a bowl.

  2. Gradually pour the chocolate mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly.

  3. Add sugar and melted gelatin to the mixture and stir well.

  4. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until the eggs set.

  5. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

  6. Pour the mixture into a mold and refrigerate until set.

Serve

  1. Serve chilled with cream.

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Vanilla and sugar 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

Chocolate
Provides the main flavour and, once melted into the milk, the body of the pudding.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they set on gentle heat, giving a creamy, rich texture.
Gelatin
Sets the chilled pudding so it holds its shape when unmoulded.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that carries the chocolate and cooks into a smooth custard.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the bitterness of the chocolate.

The step that matters

Cooking the yolks over low heat. Egg yolks thicken only gently, and if the mixture gets too hot or is not stirred constantly, the eggs can scramble and curdle. Tempering the yolks with the hot chocolate mixture first helps prevent this.

“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.

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesChocolate CookiesChocolate Cookies76 recipesChocolate FudgeChocolate Fudge55 recipes