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 Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chocolate and milk
Break the chocolate into pieces.
Place the chocolate pieces in a bowl with the granulated sugar.
Set the bowl in a pan of boiling water on the back of the stove.
Boil the pint of milk in a double boiler.
Mix the flour with the 3 tablespoons of milk until smooth.
Add half the boiling milk to the flour mixture. Stir until well mixed.
Pour the mixture into the double boiler.
Stir the mixture for 5 minutes.
Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
Make the custard
Move the bowl with chocolate and sugar to the front of the stove.
Pour 1 tablespoon of boiling water over the chocolate and sugar. Stir until smooth.
Stir the chocolate mixture into the custard in the double boiler.
Cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes.
Once cooled, stir in the vanilla.
Pour the custard into a glass dish.
Refrigerate until needed.
Finish with whipped cream
Whip the cream until stiff.
Gradually add the powdered sugar to the whipped cream.
Drop the whipped cream on the custard using a tablespoon.
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.
-
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and thickens as it heats with the starch.
- Flour
- Thickens the custard into a smooth, set texture as its starch swells in hot liquid.
- Baker’s chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavor and richness that defines the custard.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps keep the chocolate smooth when melted.
- Cream
- Whipped on top to add lightness and a rich, fatty mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard over simmering water. Heating the flour mixture gently in a double boiler and stirring steadily keeps the starch from scorching or lumping, so the custard thickens 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.
More chocolate custard recipes
You might also like
Chocolate Cream171 recipes
Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes
Chocolate Cookies76 recipes
Chocolate Fudge55 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.