Why it works: Chocolate and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,466 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Neapolitan Blanc Mange
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare a corn starch blanc mange and divide it into four parts.
Pour the white part into the bottom of a mold.
Stir the grated chocolate into one part while warm and pour it on top of the white layer.
Color the third part with pink fruit coloring and pour it on top of the chocolate layer.
Color the last part with the egg yolk and pour it on top of all layers.
Once cold, cut into thin slices and serve with whipped cream.
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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Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Corn + chocolatetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together987 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Chocolate + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Corn + creamtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
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