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
Prepare
Scrape the chocolate finely and stir it into the milk.
Dissolve the gelatine in 1 cup of the milk.
Beat the eggs in a separate bowl.
Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan.
Cook and set
Heat the mixture until very hot, but do not let it boil, stirring constantly.
Strain the mixture into a mold and let it cool for 5 to 6 hours.
Once cold, turn it out onto a dish.
Serve
Whip the cream and lay it around the dish before serving.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
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
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard as they set when gently heated, giving body to the cream.
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid so the chocolate cream holds its shape when turned out.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main chocolate flavour and some richness to the mixture.
- Milk or cream
- Forms the liquid base and adds richness and moisture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Heat the mixture without boiling. Eggs thicken as they warm but curdle if they boil, so the mixture must be heated gently and stirred constantly until just very hot.
“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.
More chocolate cream recipes
You might also like
Chocolate Cookies76 recipes
Chocolate Fudge55 recipes
Chocolate Drop Cookies50 recipes
Chocolate Cake32 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.