Name: Colonial Cream — of Coffee, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Caramel
Ingredients: ¼ pound fresh-ground coffee; 1 quart milk; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 tablespoons caramel; 6 egg yolks; 1 tumbler (1 cup) water; 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

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 ↓

Colonial Cream — of Coffee, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Caramel

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

Boil the coffee in the milk with vanilla and caramel.
Remove from heat and strain the mixture.
Stir in the egg yolks until well combined.

Add the chocolate and chill

Boil the water and add the cocoa powder, stirring until smooth.
Combine the chocolate mixture with the coffee custard.
Pour into a mold and chill for 1.5 hours before serving.

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.

Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Coffee + cocoa powdertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together541 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Coffee + vanillatop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,391 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Vanilla + cocoa powdertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,189 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,202 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

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 as they set, giving it a smooth, sliceable body.
Milk: Provides the liquid base and creaminess that the custard is built on.
Fresh-ground coffee: Infuses the milk with its bitter, roasted flavour.
Unsweetened cocoa powder: Adds chocolate flavour and deep colour to the mixture.
Caramel: Adds sweetness and a toasted, caramel note to the custard.

The step that matters

Stir in the egg yolks until well combined. Egg yolks thicken when gently heated, but if the mixture is too hot when they go in, they can scramble. Stirring them in well, and keeping the custard warm rather than boiling, helps it set smooth.

“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.

Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes

Coffee Ice Cream91 recipes

Coffee Custard27 recipes

Coconut Pudding26 recipes

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Colonial Cream — of Coffee, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Caramel