Why it works: Butter and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,645 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light.
Add the egg yolks and cornstarch, mixing well.
Gradually stir in boiling water until the mixture reaches the consistency of thick cream.
Add wine or brandy to taste.
Serve
Serve warm over pudding.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + arrowroottop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,073 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and body to the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth texture when creamed with sugar.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the sauce.
- Cornstarch or arrowroot
- Thickens the sauce as it heats with the water.
The step that matters
Stirring in the boiling water gradually. Adding the water slowly lets it blend evenly into the mixture, helping avoid lumps and separation. Starch thickens as it heats, so the sauce should reach a thick-cream consistency before serving.
Swap the arrowroot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, wine):
- Shallotfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Arrowrootthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, wine. 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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