Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
A French Sauce for Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
Combine sugar, egg yolks, and white wine in a jelly jar.
Place the jar in a pan of boiling water.
Stir constantly until the mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and serve.
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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + white winetop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,586 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + white winetop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,662 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they set gently with heat, giving it a smooth, custard-like body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the acidity of the wine.
- White wine
- Provides liquid and acidity, adding bright flavor to the sauce.
The step that matters
Stir constantly over gentle heat. Egg yolks can scramble if they get too hot or sit still. Constant stirring over moderate heat, such as a water bath, lets them thicken smoothly.
“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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