Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Chocolate Cream for Filling
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the grated chocolate and enough cream or milk to wet it in a saucepan.
Add the sugar and beaten egg.
Stir over medium heat until thoroughly mixed.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
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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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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).
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
- Grated chocolate
- Melts into the cream to give the filling its flavour and rich body.
- Cream or milk
- Melts the chocolate smoothly and adds moisture and richness to the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps balance the bitterness of the chocolate.
- Egg
- Thickens the filling as it heats and gives it a smooth, creamy structure.
The step that matters
Stir over medium heat until thoroughly mixed. The egg can scramble if the mixture overheats or is left unstirred. Steady stirring over moderate heat keeps the egg smooth and lets it thicken the filling evenly.
“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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