Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla 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
Combine chocolate, sugar, and water in a saucepan.
Stir over heat until the mixture boils.
Mix cornstarch with an extra ½ cup of cold water and add to the chocolate mixture.
Bring to a boil again and let simmer for 5 minutes.
Strain through a fine cloth, return to the saucepan, and add brandy and vanilla essence.
Keep hot until ready to serve.
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.
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Brandy + vanillatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chocolate + brandytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together287 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, 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 body of the sauce as it melts into the liquid.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells and gelatinizes when heated with liquid.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the bitterness of the chocolate.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and a warm, spirited flavour added after cooking.
The step that matters
Adding the cornstarch mixture. Cornstarch must be mixed with cold water first so it disperses evenly without lumps, then boiled to fully swell and thicken the sauce.
“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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