Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate
Ingredients
Directions
Make the chocolate milk
In a double boiler, combine a little of the milk with the grated chocolate and rub smooth.
Once melted, add the remaining milk, which should be boiling, and sugar if desired.
Mix thoroughly and cook for 5 minutes.
Finish and serve
Remove from heat and beat with a Dove egg beater until smooth and foamy.
Pour into cups and top 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.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grated chocolate
- Melts into the milk to give the drink its chocolate flavor and body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the melted chocolate blends into, giving a creamy texture.
- Whipped cream
- Adds a light, cool, creamy topping that softens the richness of the drink.
The step that matters
Melting the chocolate smoothly into a little milk. Chocolate can seize or turn grainy if it is heated too fast or mixed with too much liquid at once. Rubbing it smooth with a small amount of warm milk in a double boiler melts it gently and helps it blend evenly into the rest of the milk.
“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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