Skip to main content
Dessert

Parfait of Chocolate

A chilled chocolate custard dessert made with milk, chocolate, egg yolks, gelatin, whipped cream, and vanilla syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Parfait of Chocolate

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. In a saucepan, combine boiling milk and chocolate; sweeten to taste and let cool.

  2. In an enamelled pan, whisk egg yolks and strain in the chocolate mixture, stirring over low heat until thickened.

  3. Mix in dissolved gelatine, strain, and whip while warm; let cool.

Freeze and serve

  1. Pour the cooled custard into a mould set in ice and freeze, stirring frequently.

  2. When nearly frozen, add ⅓ cup of cold vanilla syrup and continue to freeze.

  3. Fold in the whipped cream and finish freezing thoroughly.

  4. Securely close the mould and bury it in ice for 2 hours.

  5. Turn the parfait out onto a napkin and serve.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Cream + syruptop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Vanilla + syruptop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and enrich it with a smooth, rich texture as they set over low heat.
Gelatine
Sets the mixture so the frozen parfait holds its shape when turned out.
Whipped cream
Adds airiness and a light, creamy texture to the frozen custard.
Chocolate
Provides the main chocolate flavour and dark colour of the parfait.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, carrying the chocolate and thinning the yolks.

The step that matters

Stirring the yolks over low heat until thickened. Egg yolks scramble if overheated. Gentle heat thickens the custard smoothly, and stirring keeps the proteins from curdling at the base of the pan.

“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.

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesChocolate CookiesChocolate Cookies76 recipesChocolate FudgeChocolate Fudge55 recipes