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 Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over low heat with 1 tablespoon of water.
Add the milk and stir well until it boils.
Stir in the cornflour and vanilla essence.
Boil the sauce briefly, then serve.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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, once melted, the rich colour of the sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce and adds creaminess.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the sauce as it heats by swelling and gelling with the liquid.
The step that matters
Stir in the cornflour and boil briefly. Cornflour needs to reach a boil to fully thicken. Stirring it in evenly prevents lumps, and boiling only briefly keeps the sauce from becoming gluey or losing its smooth 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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