Why it works: Sugar and cream 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 Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Dissolve the chocolate in 1 pint of milk.
Whip the eggs and pour the dissolved chocolate over them.
Add the remaining 3 pints of boiling hot milk to the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a kettle and heat to thicken.
Finish and freeze
Once cool, stir in 1 quart of heavy cream and freeze.
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.
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Sugar + creamtop 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
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavor and, with the cream, a rich body.
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard as they heat, giving it structure and body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that dissolves the chocolate and becomes the custard.
- Heavy cream
- Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture after freezing.
The step that matters
Heating the mixture to thicken. Egg proteins set as the mixture heats, which thickens it. If it gets too hot or heats unevenly, the eggs can scramble and turn grainy, so heat gently and keep the mixture moving.
“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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