Name: White Chocolate
Ingredients: 7 lbs 10 oz powdered sugar; 1 lb 12 oz tapioca; 1 lb 8 oz oatmeal; 8 oz powdered Iceland moss; 8 oz concentrated tincture of Caraccas cacao; 2 teaspoons tincture of vanilla; 12 oz distilled water from cacao-shells

Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

White Chocolate

Ingredients

7 lbs 10 oz powdered sugar
1 lb 12 oz tapioca
1 lb 8 oz oatmeal
8 oz powdered Iceland moss
8 oz concentrated tincture of Caraccas cacao
2 teaspoons tincture of vanilla
12 oz distilled water from cacao-shells

Directions

Mix the tapioca, oatmeal, and Iceland moss in a bowl.
Gradually add the tinctures of cacao and vanilla to the mixture.
Once combined, add the distilled water to form a smooth paste.

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.

Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

Tapioca: Provides starch that thickens the paste and gives it body.
Oatmeal: Adds bulk and a grainy structure that helps hold the paste together.
Iceland moss: Contributes gelling starch that helps the paste set smooth and firm.
Concentrated tincture of caraccas cacao: Supplies the main cacao flavour and colour of the mixture.
Powdered sugar: Adds sweetness and bulk to the powdered base.

“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.