Why it works: Chocolate and coffee are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,497 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells buttery, creamy. The science ↓
Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the thickener
Mix the cornflour with a little water to form a paste.
Cook the sauce
In a saucepan, combine the grated chocolate, sugar, coffee essence, and maraschino.
Boil the remaining water and stir it into the chocolate mixture.
Bring everything to a boil and cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
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 + coffeetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,497 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vanilla + coffeetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,391 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Chocolate
- Melts into the liquid to give the sauce its body and rich flavour.
- Cornflour
- Its starch swells when boiled, thickening the sauce.
- Castor sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
- Coffee essence
- Deepens the chocolate flavour with a coffee note.
- Vanilla extract
- Adds aroma that rounds out the chocolate flavour.
The step that matters
Cook the sauce to a full boil while stirring constantly. Cornflour starch only thickens fully once the liquid reaches a boil. Stirring keeps the starch dispersed so it does not clump or scorch on the bottom of the pan.
“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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