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Dessert

Chocolate Mould

A chocolate dessert made by mixing chocolate, sugar, gelatin, milk, and vanilla, then cooling in molds.

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

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the gelatine in 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk.

Make the mould

  1. Boil the remaining milk with the chocolate until smooth.

  2. Stir in the sugar and soaked gelatine.

  3. Add vanilla essence to taste.

  4. Let the mixture cool slightly, then pour into one large or several small molds.

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

Chocolate
Supplies the main flavour and cocoa fat that gives the mould a rich, smooth texture.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid as it cools, so the mould holds its shape when turned out.
Milk
Forms the liquid base and adds creaminess to the chocolate.
Caster sugar
Sweetens the mould and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.

The step that matters

Dissolve the gelatine fully before pouring. Gelatine is the only thing that sets the mould. If the soaked gelatine is not fully stirred into the hot mixture, lumps or unset patches can remain. Letting the mixture cool only slightly before pouring keeps it fluid enough to fill the molds evenly while the gelatine is still working.

“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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