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 Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the crust and chocolate
Bake a rich pie crust.
Melt the grated chocolate in hot water.
Make the filling
Add the butter, sugar, vanilla, and beaten egg yolks to the chocolate mixture.
Thicken with cornstarch or flour dissolved in a little cold water.
Cook until thickened, then pour into the baked crust.
Top and brown
Make a meringue with the egg whites and brown it on top.
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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Vanilla and sugar 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
- Chocolate
- Provides the main chocolate flavor and body to the filling.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the filling as they set with heat and add richness.
- Cornstarch or flour
- Thickens the filling by swelling with heat as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture and mouthfeel.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the filling and balances the chocolate.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that forms the meringue topping.
The step that matters
Cook until thickened. Starch thickens only when the filling gets hot enough for its granules to swell and set. Stopping early leaves a thin filling that will not firm up as it cools.
“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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