Why it works: Sugar and coffee are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,344 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Mocha Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the butter until creamy.
Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, mixing well.
Slowly add the strong coffee, drop by drop, until the desired flavor and color are achieved.
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.
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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Sugar + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + coffeetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,442 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides fat and a creamy, smooth body to the sauce.
- Confectioners' sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and thickens it into a spreadable consistency.
- Strong coffee
- Adds the mocha flavor and color, with liquid that loosens the mixture.
The step that matters
Adding the coffee. Coffee is added drop by drop because too much liquid at once can make the butter and sugar mixture thin and grainy. Adding it slowly lets the sauce come together smoothly and lets the color and flavor be judged as you go.
“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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