Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Pudding Sauck
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light.
Add the egg yolks and corn starch or arrowroot, mixing well.
Gradually stir in boiling water until the mixture reaches the consistency of thick cream.
Add wine or brandy to taste.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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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 + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and adds richness and a smooth, tender texture.
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify the fat and add richness and body to the sauce.
- Corn starch or arrowroot
- Thickens the sauce as it heats in the boiling water, giving it a creamy body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps create a light, aerated base when creamed with butter.
The step that matters
Gradually stir in boiling water. Adding the boiling water slowly keeps the egg yolks from scrambling and lets the starch thicken evenly into a smooth cream rather than forming lumps.
“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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