Why it works: Egg and sugar 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 ↓
Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a saucepan, heat the Madeira wine until it boils.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolk with the sugar.
Whip the egg white until stiff peaks form.
Combine and serve
Stir the beaten egg yolk and sugar mixture into the boiling wine.
Gently fold in the whipped egg white.
Serve immediately 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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Madeira wine + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together343 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Madeira wine + eggtop 38% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together445 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Madeira wine
- Forms the liquid base and provides the main flavor of the sauce.
- Egg
- The yolk thickens the sauce as it heats, and the whipped white adds an airy lightness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps steady the whipped egg white.
The step that matters
Stirring the beaten egg yolk and sugar into the boiling wine. Egg proteins set when heated, so adding yolk to very hot liquid can scramble it into lumps. Stirring constantly while pouring in the mixture spreads the heat quickly and keeps the sauce smooth.
“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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