Skip to main content
Dessert

Chocolate Frosting

A chocolate frosting made by boiling chocolate, sugar, milk, butter, and salt, then adding vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Vanilla and milk 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 Frosting

Ingredients

Directions

Make the frosting

  1. In a saucepan, combine the grated chocolate, sugar, milk, butter, and salt.

  2. Boil for 20 minutes, stirring constantly.

  3. Remove from heat and pour into a dish.

  4. When the mixture is nearly cool, stir in the vanilla extract.

Finish and spread

  1. Spread the frosting on the cake.

  2. If the frosting is too thick, thin it with milk.

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. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  4. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Vanilla and sugar 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

Chocolate
Provides the main flavor and, as it melts and sets, the body of the frosting.
Sugar
Sweetens the frosting and helps it stay smooth and glossy as it cools.
Milk
Dissolves the sugar and chocolate into a liquid base that can be thinned later.
Butter
Adds fat for a richer, smoother mouthfeel and a softer set.

The step that matters

Stir in the vanilla when the mixture is nearly cool. Vanilla is aromatic and volatile, so adding it to very hot mixture can drive off much of its scent. Waiting until the frosting has cooled slightly keeps the flavor noticeable.

“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.

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesChocolate CookiesChocolate Cookies76 recipesChocolate FudgeChocolate Fudge55 recipes