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Dessert

Chocolate Custard

A chocolate custard topped with meringue, baked until set and golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 Custard

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the custard

  1. Combine ¾ cup grated chocolate and 1 quart whole milk in a saucepan.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Remove the saucepan from heat.

  4. Let the mixture cool.

  5. Beat 4 egg yolks in a bowl until light and thick.

  6. Stir in ½ pound white sugar and a splash of vanilla extract.

  7. Gradually mix the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture.

  8. Pour the mixture into a baking dish.

  9. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until set.

Top with meringue and bake

  1. Beat 4 egg whites until stiff peaks form.

  2. Gradually add 4 tablespoons powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla extract to the whites.

  3. Spread the meringue over the custard.

  4. Bake until golden.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  4. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they set, giving it a rich, smooth body.
Egg whites
Whip into a stiff foam that forms the light meringue topping.
Whole milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and carries the chocolate flavor.
Grated chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavor and color of the custard.
White sugar
Sweetens the custard and helps the yolks set smoothly.

The step that matters

Baking the custard until set. Egg yolks set at moderate heat and turn grainy or watery if the oven is too hot, so a slow oven keeps the custard smooth and tender.

“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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