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Dessert

Chocolate Filling

A chocolate filling made from brown sugar, unsweetened chocolate, milk, butter, cream, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 Filling

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, chocolate, milk, and cream of tartar.

  2. Cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage.

  3. Remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted.

  4. Beat in the cream and vanilla extract until thick enough to pour over cake.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

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

Light brown sugar
Provides sweetness and moisture, and helps the filling set smooth and glossy.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the syrup, helping prevent crystallisation for a smooth texture.
Unsweetened chocolate
Supplies the chocolate flavour and firms the filling as it cools.
Butter
Adds fat for a rich mouthfeel and a glossy finish.
Milk
Provides liquid that dissolves the sugar and gives a creamy body.

The step that matters

Cook to the soft ball stage. Sugar syrup must reach the right temperature for the filling to thicken correctly. Undercooking leaves it runny, while overcooking makes it grainy or hard once cooled.

“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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