Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓
Chocolate Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
Make the chocolate custard
Rub the grated chocolate smooth in the milk.
Heat the mixture to boiling over medium heat.
Stir in the dissolved cornstarch.
Cook the mixture for 5 minutes until thickened.
Remove the mixture from heat and pour it into a bowl.
Fill and bake the tarts
Beat the egg yolks and the whites of 2 eggs with the sugar until light.
When the chocolate mixture is cool, combine it with the egg mixture.
Stir the combined mixture until well mixed.
Pour the mixture into pastry shells.
Bake the tarts until set.
Top with meringue and serve
Beat the egg whites with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon juice until stiff peaks form.
Spread the meringue over the tarts.
Bake the tarts until lightly browned.
Serve cold.
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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Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,287 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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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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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and vanilla 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken and enrich the filling, while whites whip into a stable meringue topping.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the chocolate mixture into a smooth, sliceable custard as it cooks.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and body of the filling.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that carries the chocolate and cooks into a creamy custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps whipped egg whites hold their shape.
The step that matters
Let the chocolate mixture cool before adding the eggs. Adding a hot custard to beaten egg yolks can partly scramble them and leave lumps. Letting the chocolate mixture cool first keeps the filling smooth and evenly set when baked.
“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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