Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the softened butter and sugar together until frothy.
Boil the wine and water together, then pour it boiling over the butter and sugar mixture while stirring quickly.
Add nutmeg to taste.
Stir in sweet cream after adding the wine.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks with brown sugar and butter.
Heat the mixture on the stove, stirring until it thickens.
Add the wine to the thickened mixture.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they heat and set, giving it a smooth, rich body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and, creamed with butter, helps it become light and frothy.
- Wine
- Adds acidity and a complex flavor that balances the sweetness.
The step that matters
Heat the mixture on the stove, stirring until it thickens. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat, but if they get too hot they can curdle and turn grainy. Keep the heat low and stir constantly.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, wine, cream, egg):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Tarragonfits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, wine, cream, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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