Why it works: Cocoa powder and coffee work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 541 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Mocha Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the icing
In a bowl, cream the butter until smooth.
Add cocoa powder and strong coffee, mixing well.
Gradually add icing sugar until desired consistency is reached.
Finish
For a smooth glazed surface, use the icing while hot or warm it slightly over hot water.
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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Cocoa powder + coffeetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together541 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Cocoa powder + sugartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,920 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + cocoa powdertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and creaming it smooth gives the icing a silky base.
- Cocoa powder
- Provides the chocolate flavour and dark colour of the icing.
- Strong coffee
- Adds liquid and deepens the chocolate flavour for a mocha taste.
- Icing sugar
- Provides sweetness and, as it is added, thickens the icing to the desired consistency.
The step that matters
Adding the icing sugar gradually. Icing sugar thickens the mixture quickly, so adding it in small amounts lets you stop at the right consistency. Adding it all at once can make the icing too stiff or lumpy to correct.
“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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