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 ↓
Chocolate Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a saucepan until almost boiling.
In a separate bowl, mix the corn starch, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt until smooth with a little milk.
Stir the mixture into the hot milk until it thickens.
Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.
Set and serve
Pour into molds or cups that have been wet with cold water.
Serve cold with whipped cream.
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.
-
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Cocoa powder + vanillatop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,189 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the custard its body and set.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch thickens into a custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the cocoa.
- Cocoa powder
- Provides the chocolate flavour and dark colour.
The step that matters
Stirring the starch mixture into the hot milk. Starch must be fully smooth before it meets the hot milk, or it clumps. Stirring keeps it dispersed so it thickens evenly as the starch granules swell and gelatinise.
“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.
More chocolate custard recipes
You might also like
Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes
Corn Cake90 recipes
Corn Starch Cake89 recipes
Coconut Pudding26 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.