Why it works: Sugar and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat egg yolks and sugar together until well combined.
Make the mixture
Add crushed soda crackers and grated chocolate to the mixture.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold into mixture.
Dissolve chocolate in a little milk before adding to mixture.
Cook
Grease pudding mold and pour mixture in.
Boil in a pot of water for 1 hour.
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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Sugar + chocolatetop 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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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and bind the mixture, while whipped whites add air and lightness.
- Soda crackers
- Crushed crackers absorb liquid and give the pudding body and a firm, sliceable texture.
- Unsweetened chocolate
- Provides the main chocolate flavour, along with cocoa fat that adds richness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps tenderize the egg yolk mixture.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites hold air that makes the pudding light. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from collapsing before the pudding cooks.
“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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