Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Guava Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Stew guava and pour off juice.
Melt butter until it bubbles, add flour, mixing thoroughly.
Add guava juice in which sugar has been stirred.
Let boil up well, and serve hot with cottage pudding.
Variation
Guava jelly may be used in place of the juice, melting it with boiling water and omitting the sugar.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 5 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Guava | not in our table | 0 |
| Stew | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Butter + guavatop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together35 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Guava + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together115 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and carries flavour when melted with the flour.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and guava juice into a smooth sauce.
- Guava juice
- Provides the main fruity flavour and liquid base of the sauce.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tart guava flavour.
The step that matters
Mixing the flour into the melted butter. Stirring thoroughly while the butter bubbles coats the flour evenly, so the liquid added later thickens smoothly without lumps.
Swap the guava
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Guavathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour. 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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