Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Chocolate Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard
In a saucepan, mix the milk with the ground rice and gradually add the grated chocolate.
Stir the mixture over low heat until it thickens, then let it cool slightly.
Stir in the beaten eggs.
Assemble and bake
Combine the wheatmeal and butter with a little cold water to form a paste.
Line a greased pie plate with the paste and pour the cooled custard into it.
Bake the tart for 30 minutes in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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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Butter + ricetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the custard and help it set firm when baked.
- Ground rice
- Thickens the milk mixture so the custard holds its body.
- Wheatmeal
- Forms the paste that makes the tart shell's structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat to the paste for a tender, short crust.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and colour of the custard.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the thickened custard is built on.
The step that matters
Stir the mixture over low heat until it thickens. Gentle heat lets the ground rice swell and thicken the milk evenly without scorching or lumps. Cooling slightly before adding the eggs keeps the beaten eggs from curdling or cooking unevenly.
“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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