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Dessert

Chocolate Cream

A chocolate custard made by boiling milk with chocolate and sugar, then adding beaten egg yolks and vanilla, steamed until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Chocolate Cream

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

about 8 cups

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Boil the milk with the grated chocolate and sugar.

  2. Slowly add the mixture to the well-beaten egg yolks flavored with vanilla.

  3. Mix well and pour into about 8 cups.

Cook and chill

  1. Place the cups in a steamer or a baking pan filled with water.

  2. Cover with another pan and cook for 1 hour.

  3. Chill before serving.

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.

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.

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

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

  4. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, 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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they set, giving it a smooth, creamy structure.
Milk
Forms the liquid base and provides moisture and richness for the custard.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and color to the milk base.
White sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.

The step that matters

Slowly add the mixture to the egg yolks. Adding hot liquid to yolks too quickly can scramble them. Adding it slowly while whisking gradually raises their temperature so the custard stays smooth and sets 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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