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 ↓
Sauce, Chocolate
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the chocolate in the water.
Thicken with the crème de riz.
Add sugar, vanilla, and brandy to taste.
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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Vanilla + brandytop 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 flavor and, once melted, the body of the sauce.
- Crème de riz
- Rice starch that thickens the melted chocolate liquid as it heats.
The step that matters
Thicken with the crème de riz. Rice starch only thickens fully when the mixture is heated enough for its starch granules to swell. Adding it too little or not heating it enough leaves the sauce thin.
“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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