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 Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Combine milk and grated chocolate in a saucepan and heat until boiling.
Add beaten egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch; stir well until thickened.
Remove from heat, let cool, and stir in vanilla extract.
Assemble the pie
Pre-bake the pie crust before adding the filling.
Pour the chocolate filling into the crust and frost the top.
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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 filling as they set and add richness to the custard.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk mixture so the filling sets smoothly when cooled.
- Grated chocolate
- Gives the filling its chocolate flavour and a rich, dense body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Stir until thickened. Egg yolks and cornstarch must be stirred while heating so the starch swells and the yolks thicken the custard without scrambling. Stopping too early leaves the filling runny; overheating can curdle the eggs.
“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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