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 Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light.
Add the egg yolks and cornstarch or arrowroot, and mix well.
Gradually stir in boiling water until the mixture reaches a thick cream consistency.
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.
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 + 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 + 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and, when creamed with butter, helps trap air for a lighter texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and, when creamed, traps air that lightens the sauce.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help emulsify the butter and liquid into a smooth sauce.
- Cornstarch or arrowroot
- Thickens the sauce as it is heated and hydrated in the liquid.
The step that matters
Gradually stirring in the boiling water. Starch thickens only once it is hydrated and heated, and it thickens quickly. Adding the water gradually and stirring constantly lets you stop at the target cream consistency instead of overshooting into a sauce that is too thin.
Swap the arrowroot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, cream, wine):
- Potatofits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits better
- Arrowrootthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, cream, 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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