Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Chocolate Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the yolks of the eggs well.
In a bowl, combine the yolks, grated chocolate, sugar, and cream.
Stir the ingredients together until well mixed.
Cook
Pour the mixture into a jug and place the jug in a saucepan of boiling water.
Stir continuously until the mixture thickens, but do not let it boil.
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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 + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,543 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they set and add richness and emulsifying power.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, giving the custard a smooth, silky texture.
- Grated chocolate
- Provides the chocolate flavour and firms slightly as the mixture cools.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Stir continuously without letting it boil. Egg yolks set at gentle heat, around 70 to 80°C. If the mixture boils, the proteins curdle and the custard turns grainy and separates. Constant stirring over moderate heat keeps it smooth.
“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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