Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the butter until creamy.
Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat until light and frothy.
Add the wine, one tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition.
Place the bowl in a pan of boiling water.
Slowly add the hot milk while continuously beating.
Remove the bowl from the hot water; the sauce is ready to use.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Wine + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Wine + milktop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,116 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (fenugreek, curry).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the sauce a smooth, rich body.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and dissolves smoothly into the creamed butter.
- Wine
- Adds flavour and acidity, and is beaten in gradually so the mixture stays smooth.
- Hot milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the sauce, and is beaten in slowly to keep it smooth.
The step that matters
Adding the hot milk slowly while beating. Pouring the milk in too fast can cause the butter to separate or the sauce to curdle. Adding it slowly while beating continuously lets the fat emulsify evenly into the liquid, keeping the sauce smooth and glossy.
“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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