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 ↓
Creamy Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Cream the butter in a bowl.
Slowly add the powdered sugar while mixing.
Beat in the wine until well combined.
Finish
Just before serving, fold in the cream.
Alternatively, combine the cream and wine, then cook over hot water until smooth and creamy, but do not melt the butter.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cream + winetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,887 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to give the sauce richness and a smooth, rounded body.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and dissolves smoothly, avoiding a grainy texture.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, lightening the sauce's body when folded in.
- Wine
- Adds liquid, acidity and aroma, thinning the mixture and balancing the sweetness.
The step that matters
Do not melt the butter in the alternative method. Butter is an emulsion of fat and water. Gentle heat over hot water keeps it stable and creamy, while melting it can separate the fat and leave the sauce greasy and broken.
“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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