Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 43,450 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolatk Blanc Mange
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
If necessary, use part water to make 1 quart of milk.
In a bowl, moisten the corn starch and ground chocolate with cold water.
Make the custard
Bring the milk to a boil, then add the moistened corn starch and chocolate.
Stir constantly until the mixture thickens into a custard.
Flavor as desired and pour into a mold.
Serve
Serve with 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk into a smooth custard as it heats and gelatinises.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and carries the flavour.
- Ground chocolate
- Adds chocolate flavour and colour to the custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the chocolate.
The step that matters
Stir constantly while the custard thickens. Corn starch can settle on the bottom and scorch, or form lumps if it is not kept moving. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and lets the starch granules swell and thicken the milk into a smooth custard.
“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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