Why it works: Butter and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,645 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Dissolve the sugar in a little water.
Boil until nearly candied.
Add the butter just before removing from heat.
Stir in wine and nutmeg to taste.
Combine and finish
Melt the butter, sugar, and Madeira wine together in a saucepan.
Add a little water to the saucepan.
Bring to a boil.
Roll the butter in a little flour.
Stir it into the boiling water quickly.
Add the sugar.
Add the wine.
Cream the butter with the beaten egg yolks and brown sugar.
Let the mixture simmer for a short time.
Grate nutmeg on top when serving.
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 + 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).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help thicken the sauce as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds fat, richness and a smooth, glossy texture to the sauce.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, when boiled, thickens toward a candied syrup.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and a deeper, caramel-like flavour.
- Madeira wine
- Adds acidity and a rich, aromatic flavour to the sauce.
The step that matters
Stir the butter into the boiling water quickly. Butter that is added to boiling liquid can separate if it is not stirred in fast. Quick stirring disperses the fat evenly, helping the sauce stay smooth and emulsified.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, butter, madeira wine, wine):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Thymefits about as well
- Tarragonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, butter, madeira wine, wine. 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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