Why it works: Cream and sugar 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
Prepare
Grate the chocolate finely.
Make the custard
In a saucepan, combine the grated chocolate, cream, castor sugar, and egg yolks.
Stir over low heat until the mixture thickens.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.
Add the dissolved gelatine and mix well.
Set
Pour into a mold and refrigerate until set.
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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Cream + sugartop 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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Chocolate + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).
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 with gentle heat and add richness.
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid cream mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
- Cream
- Adds fat and moisture, giving the chilled dessert a smooth, rich texture.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and, with the cream, firms the dessert as it cools.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the custard and softens the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Stir over low heat until the mixture thickens. Egg yolks scramble if overheated, leaving lumps. Gentle heat thickens the custard smoothly, so straining is needed less.
“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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