Why it works: Sugar and cream 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
Make the custard base
In a saucepan, combine the chocolate, sugar, milk, and cream.
Bring to a boil and let it reduce until a third is consumed.
Once half cold, beat in the egg yolks and strain the mixture through a sieve.
Bake and serve
Place serving dishes in a pan with boiling water, ensuring the water reaches halfway up the sides.
Cover the pan and add a small fire on top.
Once done and cooled, serve 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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Chocolate + creamtop 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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Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Set the custard into a soft, sliceable texture as they cook and thicken the mixture.
- Chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavour and dark colour of the custard.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel from its fat.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the custard sets from, adding body and mild sweetness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Bake and serve. Egg yolks set at about 70 to 80°C, so the custard must cook gently in a water bath. Too much heat makes the proteins tighten and curdle, leaving a grainy texture.
“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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