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 ↓
Chocolate Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the gelatine in a little milk.
Mix the ground rice smoothly with some milk.
Make the custard
In a saucepan, combine the remaining milk, chocolate, and sugar; bring to a boil.
Add the ground rice mixture and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Let the mixture cool slightly, then stir in the beaten egg yolks over low heat until thickened.
Add the vanilla and soaked gelatine, stirring until combined.
Set and serve
When cool, pour into a lightly greased or lined mold and decorate as desired.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Rice + vanillatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,352 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and vanilla 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 flavour and colour, and adds richness to the cream.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the mixture as they cook gently and add richness.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cooled cream so it holds its shape when unmolded.
- Ground rice
- Thickens the milk mixture and gives the cream a smooth body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the other ingredients are cooked and set in.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cream and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Stir in the egg yolks over low heat. Egg yolks thicken by gentle heating, but if the mixture is too hot they can scramble and turn grainy. Cooling it slightly first and keeping the heat low lets it thicken smoothly.
“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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