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Chocolate Cream

A chilled chocolate custard made with thick cream, chocolate, sugar, and folded egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Chocolate Cream

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 chocolate base

  1. In a saucepan, combine the thick cream, chocolate, and sugar.

  2. Bring to a boil, stirring until smooth.

  3. Remove from heat and let cool.

Finish the mousse

  1. Whisk the egg whites until frothy.

  2. Gently fold the whisked egg whites into the cooled chocolate cream.

  3. Pour the mixture into glasses and serve.

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.

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.

  1. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Chocolate + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Thick cream
Adds richness and a smooth, rich body to the mousse.
Plain chocolate
Provides the main flavor and, as it cools, helps the mixture thicken.
Sugar
Sweetens the mousse and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
Egg whites
Whisked into a foam, they trap air that gives the mousse its light texture.

The step that matters

Gently fold the whisked egg whites into the cooled chocolate cream. Egg white foam holds air bubbles that make the mousse light. Stirring or mixing vigorously deflates those bubbles, leaving a dense result. Folding in gently keeps the air intact. Adding the chocolate cream while it is still hot can also melt and collapse the foam, which is why it is cooled first.

“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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