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Dessert

Chooolatb Nut Crbami

A chocolate and nut brittle made with vanilla chocolate, nuts, sugar, and a gelatinous syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate 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 ↓

Chooolatb Nut Crbami

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chocolate mixture

  1. Make a French cream, not too thick.

  2. Stir in the grated chocolate and pounded nuts.

  3. Shape into balls, then flatten on waxed paper.

Make the syrup

  1. Dissolve 2 cups of white sugar in 1 pint of water over low heat for 15 minutes.

  2. Add a small quantity of gelatine and gum arabic dissolved together.

  3. Skim off impurities that rise to the surface.

  4. Strain through a flannel bag.

  5. Boil the syrup until it reaches the 'threads' stage.

  6. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar or cream of tartar to perfect granulation.

Pour and set

  1. Pour into pans as directed in other recipes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Vanilla + nutstop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together638 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Chocolate + nutstop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together440 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Finest vanilla chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavour and is stirred into the cream to give the brittle its body.
Pounded nuts
Add crunch and nutty flavour to the mixture.
Confectioner's sugar
Forms the sugar syrup that is boiled to the threads stage, giving the brittle its set structure and sweetness.
Vinegar or cream of tartar
Its acid helps prevent large sugar crystals, giving a smooth, fine grain.

The step that matters

Boil the syrup to the 'threads' stage. The sugar concentration determines how the brittle sets. Stopping too early leaves it soft and sticky, while boiling too long makes it dark, bitter and hard to pour.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vanilla, chocolate, sugar, egg, vinegar):

  1. Hazelnutfits better
  2. Almondfits better
  3. Chestnutfits better
  4. Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vanilla, chocolate, sugar, egg, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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