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
Beat the butter until creamy.
Gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat.
Once light and creamy, gradually add the wine (or vanilla/lemon extract) and then the cream a little at a time.
When smooth, place the bowl in a basin of hot water and stir until the sauce is creamy, which will take only a few minutes.
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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Sugar + creamtop 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
- Provides fat and richness, and when beaten traps air for a light, creamy body.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and dissolves smoothly into the creamed butter, giving the sauce body.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and softens the sauce, giving it a smooth, pourable texture.
The step that matters
Adding the liquid gradually. Adding wine, extract or cream a little at a time lets the butter-sugar mixture absorb each addition evenly. Adding it all at once can cause the mixture to separate or turn grainy.
“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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