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 ↓
Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Combine the sugar, chocolate, and water in a saucepan.
Stir until it boils.
Mix the rice flour with a little cold water until smooth, then pour the mixture into the saucepan.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a fine strainer.
Finish and serve
Add the brandy and vanilla.
Serve warm.
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.
-
Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Brandy + vanillatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Vanilla + ricetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,352 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Vanilla + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Rice flour
- Thickens the sauce as it heats, giving it body.
- Grated chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and body of the sauce.
- Caster sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps it stay smooth.
The step that matters
Mixing the rice flour into cold water before adding it. Starch clumps if it hits hot liquid dry, so it must be fully dispersed in cold water first to thicken the sauce evenly.
“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.
More chocolate sauce recipes
You might also like
Chocolate Cream171 recipes
Rice Cake120 recipes
Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes
Chocolate Cookies76 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.