Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cream
Scrape the chocolate into a quart of thick cream.
Add the sugar to the mixture.
Boil the mixture.
Mill the mixture until smooth.
Remove from heat and let it cool.
Finish and serve
Whisk in the egg whites until frothy.
Scoop the froth onto sieves.
Serve in glasses, allowing it to rise above the 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.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Chocolate + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Thick cream
- Provides the rich fat base that gives the dessert its smooth, creamy body.
- Chocolate
- Supplies the main flavour and colour of the cream.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a froth that lifts the top layer and adds a light, airy texture.
The step that matters
Whisk in the egg whites until frothy. Egg whites hold air only when whisked to the right stage; under-whipped whites stay runny and won't rise above the cream, while over-whipped whites turn dry and grainy.
“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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