Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Chocolate Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the chocolate cream
Melt the chocolate with the water in a saucepan until smooth.
In a bowl, combine the melted chocolate with the yolks of the eggs.
Top and serve
For a meringue topping, prepare a meringue and pile it on top of each cup, then brown it lightly.
Alternatively, pour some of the hot chocolate into stiffly beaten egg whites to create a light foam and place it on top of each cup.
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.
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Egg + vanillatop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together27,347 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Chocolate + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
Egg and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 27,347 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
- Sweet chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and, once melted, the body of the cream.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the chocolate mixture and enrich its texture as it combines.
- Egg whites
- Whipped stiff, they form a light foam that gives the optional topping its airy texture.
The step that matters
Combining the melted chocolate with the egg yolks. If the chocolate is too hot when it meets the yolks, the yolks can scramble, leaving grainy flecks instead of a smooth cream. Adding the chocolate gradually and stirring well helps the yolks warm evenly.
“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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