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Mayonnaise Dressing

A dressing of beaten eggs, sugar, mustard, vinegar, milk and butter, thickened over a double saucepan.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Margaret · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Mayonnaise Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Beat the 2 eggs well.

  2. Add 1 teaspoon sugar.

  3. Add 1 tablespoon (small) mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.

  4. Add 8 tablespoons vinegar last.

  5. Add 5 tablespoons milk slowly.

  6. Add 1 tablespoon melted butter.

  7. Put all into a double saucepan and stir until it thickens.

  8. Remove immediately from the fire and cool.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

387Calories
15 gProtein
25 gFat
27 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
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 Hamilton, Margaret. 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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

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

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

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 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
Set and thicken the dressing as they cook, giving it body.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
Milk
Dilutes the mixture and adds softness to the texture.
Melted butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Stir until it thickens, then remove immediately from the fire. Egg proteins thicken gently with heat, but overheating curdles them. Stirring steadily in a double saucepan keeps the heat gentle, and removing it promptly stops the custard-like set from turning grainy.

“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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