Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Chocolate Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the chocolate base
Bruise the chocolate into pieces and place it in a saucepan with a little milk.
Stir over gentle heat until smooth and thick.
Add more milk and stir again until it reaches the thickness of cream.
Finish and set
Sweeten with clarified sugar to your taste.
Stir in a little thick cream and a very small amount of isinglass.
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve and pour it into a mold.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and, as it melts, the body of the cream.
- Isinglass
- A gelatine-like setting agent that firms the cream so it holds its shape in a mold.
- Thick cream
- Adds richness and fat, giving a smoother, softer texture.
- Clarified sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Stir in the isinglass after the mixture has cooled slightly. Isinglass is a gelatine-like setting agent. Adding it to a very hot mixture and continuing to heat it can weaken its setting power, while a well-dissolved, evenly stirred distribution helps the cream set smooth and firm.
“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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