Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 the milk over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Stir in the cream and sugar to taste.
Beat the egg yolks and the egg white, then add to the chocolate mixture.
Strain the mixture and pour it into small cups or china cream pots.
Set and chill
Place the cups in a shallow dish of hot water until the mixture sets.
Cool in a refrigerator until ready to serve.
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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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).
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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 flavour and, as it melts into the milk, the body of the cream.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the mixture as they set, giving a smooth, sliceable texture.
- Cream
- Adds richness and fat, producing a softer, silkier set.
- Milk
- Melts the chocolate and forms the liquid base of the custard.
The step that matters
Place the cups in a shallow dish of hot water until the mixture sets. Gentle, indirect heat lets the egg proteins thicken the custard evenly. Excess heat can curdle the eggs and leave a grainy texture.
“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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