Skip to main content
Dessert

Fruit Salad Dressing

A vinaigrette-style dressing for fruit salad made with eggs, butter, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, mustard, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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 ↓

Fruit Salad Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl until slightly beaten (use yolks of 4 eggs for a richer texture).

  2. Add a little salt, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch; mix until very smooth.

  3. Heat 4 tablespoons mild vinegar.

  4. When hot, drop the vinegar little by little into the mixture in the bowl, beating all the time.

Cook and finish

  1. Return to stove and stir until the mixture thickens.

  2. Remove from stove and add 1 large tablespoon butter while hot; beat until very light and allow to cool.

  3. When ready for use, add 1/2 cup cream whipped very stiff and stir into the dressing.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

600Calories
20 gProtein
7 gFat
111 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
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. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

  5. Sugar + mustardtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,424 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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 give it a rich, smooth body.
Vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and richness of the dressing.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat that softens the dressing and gives it a smooth, mellow mouthfeel.
Cornstarch
Helps thicken the mixture and stabilise it so it holds body when cooked.
Cream (in the method)
Adds lightness and moisture, making the finished dressing softer and airier.

The step that matters

Drop the hot vinegar in slowly while beating. Adding hot vinegar gradually while beating keeps the egg from scrambling into lumps, so the mixture stays smooth as it thickens.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Cucumberfits less well
  4. Cabbagefits less well

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

You might also like

White CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipesSpice CakeSpice Cake344 recipes