Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the sugar
Combine the sugar and enough milk to dissolve it in a saucepan.
Add the butter.
Boil the mixture very slowly for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat.
Finish the fudge
Add the chocolate.
Beat the mixture until creamy.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Butter + chocolatetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,543 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated sugar
- Provides the sweetness and the sugar structure that sets the fudge as it cools.
- Unsweetened chocolate
- Adds deep chocolate flavour, richness and fat to the fudge.
- Butter
- Adds fat, giving the fudge a smoother, softer texture.
- Milk
- Dissolves the sugar and adds moisture to the mixture.
The step that matters
Boil very slowly and stir constantly. Sugar can scorch on the bottom of the pan or crystallize unevenly if heated too fast or left unstirred. Slow boiling with constant stirring keeps the mixture smooth and evenly cooked, which affects the final 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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