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Cream Dressing

A creamy dressing made with sugar, flour, mustard, salt, cream, eggs, butter, and vinegar, cooked until thick.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 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 ↓

Cream Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Whip 1 cup cream until stiff.

  2. In a bowl, combine 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 1/4 teaspoon mustard, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

  3. Beat 2 eggs.

Make the dressing

  1. Add beaten eggs, 1/2 cup vinegar, and 1 cup butter to the dry mixture; whisk until combined.

  2. Cook the mixture in a double boiler over simmering water until thick.

  3. When the mixture has cooled, fold in the whipped cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

639Calories
20 gProtein
12 gFat
109 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
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 Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog]. 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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  3. Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,066 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Thicken the dressing as they cook and set, giving it body and structure.
Flour
Stabilises the mixture and helps it thicken when heated with the eggs.
Cream
Whipped and folded in at the end to add lightness and a smooth, creamy texture.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the vinegar.

The step that matters

Cook over simmering water until thick. Eggs thicken gently at low heat. If the water is too hot or the mixture is left unstirred, the eggs can scramble and the dressing turns lumpy. Keep the heat gentle and stir steadily.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Mustardthe original
  2. Arrowrootfits about as well
  3. Horseradishfits about as well
  4. Shallotfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, cream, egg, vinegar. 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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