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Dessert

Mayonnaise Dressing

A creamy dressing made with mustard, paprika, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, egg yolks, and optional butter or cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Norton, Caroline Trask · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Mayonnaise Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mayonnaise

  1. Combine 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon paprika or a little cayenne.

  2. Add yolks of four raw eggs, 2 cups olive oil, 2 tablespoonfuls vinegar, and 2 tablespoonfuls lemon juice.

  3. Mix the dry seasonings and egg yolks; add oil dropwise until thickening begins, then add more quickly.

  4. Thin with a little lemon juice or vinegar; alternate oil, vinegar, and lemon juice until all used.

  5. Add 1/2 cup whipped cream just before serving.

  6. Mix with a wooden spoon, fork, or egg-beater; mayonnaise mixer preferred.

  7. Add vegetable coloring if desired.

Make the cooked dressing

  1. Mix 1/2 tablespoon mustard, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt with yolks of two raw eggs.

  2. Add 3 tablespoonfuls melted butter and 3/4 cup cream.

  3. Slowly pour 1/4 cup vinegar into mixture while stirring.

  4. Cook in a double boiler until thickened, stirring constantly.

  5. Strain and cool.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

417Calories
8 gProtein
36 gFat
18 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Norton, Caroline Trask. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Emulsify the oil and vinegar into a thick, stable sauce.
Olive oil
Provides the fat that forms the body of the emulsion.
Mustard
Helps hold the oil and water-based liquids together in the emulsion.
Whipped cream
Adds lightness and a softer, creamier texture when folded in at the end.
Butter
Adds richness and a smoother mouthfeel to the cooked dressing.

The step that matters

Adding the oil. Oil must be added drop by drop at first, because egg yolk can only emulsify a limited amount of oil at once. Adding it too fast breaks the emulsion, leaving the sauce thin and separated.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, olive, vinegar, cream, sugar, egg, butter):

  1. Vanillafits about as well
  2. Avocadofits about as well
  3. Lemonthe original
  4. Coconutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, olive, vinegar, cream, sugar, egg, butter. 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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