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Dessert

Chocolate Cream

Chocolate Cream is a chilled custard made with chocolate, sugar, gelatine, egg yolks, cream, milk, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Chocolate Cream

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 Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Simmer the milk and chocolate together until smoothly mixed.

  2. Let it cool slightly, then add the egg yolks and stir until thickened, ensuring the mixture does not boil.

  3. Dissolve the gelatine in 1 tablespoon of water, strain it into the custard, and add the vanilla essence.

Finish and set

  1. Whip the cream until stiff, then gently fold it into the custard.

  2. Pour the mixture into a prepared mold and refrigerate until set.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Chocolate
Provides the main flavour and colour, and sets the body of the cream when melted into milk.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they cook gently, giving a smooth, rich texture.
Leaf gelatine
Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
Cream
Whipped to add air and lightness, giving a softer, creamy texture.
Castor sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the bitterness of the chocolate.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard without boiling. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat, but boiling causes them to curdle and turn grainy. Cooking slowly and stirring keeps the custard smooth before the gelatine is added.

“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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