Why it works: Sugar and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Fruit Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Put a cupful of granulated sugar in a saucepan.
Pour over it two and a half cupfuls of boiling water.
Let it boil a few minutes.
Add two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter.
Add two even teaspoonfuls of cornstarch rubbed to a paste with a little cold water.
Add a cupful of canned fruit or a glass of any kind of fruit or jelly liked and the juice of a lemon.
Strain and serve
Press through a fine sieve.
Serve with fritters or puddings.
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 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Fruit | 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.
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and body to the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, glossy mouthfeel.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the boiling liquid into a smooth sauce.
- Canned fruit
- Supplies the main fruit flavour and some body to the sauce.
- Lemon juice (in the method)
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the sauce.
The step that matters
Adding the cornstarch paste. Cornstarch must be fully mixed into cold water first, then stirred into the hot liquid and kept at a boil. Added dry or undissolved, it forms lumps, and it only thickens once its starch granules have heated enough to swell.
“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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