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
Mix cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Dilute with cold milk, then add to scalded milk.
Cook over hot water for 10 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened.
Melt chocolate with hot water until smooth, then add to the cooked mixture.
Finish and serve
Fold in the beaten egg whites and vanilla.
Mould, chill, and serve with cream.
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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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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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
- Cornstarch (in the method)
- Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth, set base.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and colour of the mousse.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in to lighten the texture and add airiness.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch thickens.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold air only when beaten to soft peaks and folded gently. Deflating the foam by overmixing makes the mousse dense rather than light.
“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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