Why it works: Butter and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,505 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, and egg yolk until creamy.
Quickly mix in the sherry and boiling water.
Beat the mixture thoroughly.
Finally, fold in the well-beaten egg white.
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 + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 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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Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy body to the sauce.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps the butter whip up light and creamy.
- Egg yolk
- Emulsifies the fat and adds richness and body to the sauce.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aroma, lending the sauce its characteristic flavor.
- Egg white
- Whipped and folded in, it lightens the sauce's texture.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg white gently. Beaten egg white holds air bubbles that lighten the sauce. Stirring or overmixing it deflates those bubbles, leaving the sauce dense instead of airy.
“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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