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 Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the base
Soak the gelatin in ½ cup milk for 2 hours.
Scald the remaining milk in a double boiler.
Beat the egg yolks and add half the sugar.
Pour the hot milk over the yolk mixture, stirring constantly.
Return to the heat and cook until thick as cream, stirring well.
Remove from heat, add the gelatin, remaining sugar, and melted chocolate.
Strain the mixture when cold and add the vanilla.
Thicken and set
Set the mixture in a pan of ice and stir occasionally.
When it begins to thicken, fold in the beaten egg whites until stiff.
Dip a mold in cold water, pour in the mixture, and refrigerate to cool.
Make the custard and serve
Make a cold custard from 3 egg yolks, 1 pint milk, 1 cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Serve the chocolate pudding very cold with the custard.
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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard base and add richness as they cook with the milk.
- Gelatine
- Sets the pudding so it holds its shape when chilled in the mold.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in, they lighten the texture and add airy structure.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main chocolate flavour and colours the pudding.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that gives the pudding its creamy moisture.
The step that matters
Cook the yolk and milk mixture until thick as cream. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, but overheating or insufficient stirring can scramble them into lumps. Stirring steadily keeps the custard smooth as it thickens.
“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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