Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the chocolate base
Crush the chocolate into pieces.
In a saucepan, combine the chocolate with a little milk.
Stir over gentle heat until smooth and thick.
Finish and set
Add more milk and stir again until it reaches the thickness of cream.
Sweeten to taste with clarified sugar.
Stir in a little thick cream and a small amount of isinglass.
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve and pour it into a mold.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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, as it melts and cools, the body of the cream.
- Milk
- Thins the chocolate to a pourable cream and adds moisture and softness.
- Clarified sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
- Thick cream
- Adds fat for a richer, smoother texture.
- Isinglass
- Acts as a gelling agent so the cream holds its shape when set.
The step that matters
Stirring over gentle heat. Chocolate can seize or scorch if overheated, leaving it grainy or burnt. Gentle heat melts it evenly into a smooth base before the other ingredients are 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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