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Dessert

Chocolate Filling

A sweet chocolate filling made by cooking sugar, cream, chocolate, and butter until soft ball stage, then cooling and beating into a thick cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 Filling

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the chocolate into small pieces.

  2. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat.

Make the ganache

  1. Test the mixture in cold water.

  2. When it reaches the soft ball stage, remove from heat.

  3. Let it cool, then beat until it becomes a thick cream.

Fill the cake

  1. Spread the filling on the cake.

  2. Do not stir the filling after it begins to boil.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Chocolate + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Granulated sugar
Provides sweetness and, as it cooks to the soft ball stage, the firm structure that sets the filling.
Cream
Adds moisture and a smooth, rich texture to the filling.
Chocolate
Supplies the main flavor and, as it cools, helps the filling thicken and set.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, silkier mouthfeel and a glossy finish.

The step that matters

Do not stir after it begins to boil. Stirring a sugar syrup once it boils can encourage sugar crystals to form, which leaves the filling grainy instead of smooth. Letting it cook undisturbed keeps the texture even.

“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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