Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the first sauce
In a bowl, beat together sugar, butter, and egg until creamy.
Add brandy and place over a kettle of boiling water until thickened.
Make the second sauce
To make the second sauce, mix flour and butter together.
Add sugar and lemon juice, then place in ½ pint of boiling water.
Boil until thickened, cool slightly, then add the well-beaten egg.
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the sauce a smooth, creamy body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth texture as it blends with the sugar and egg.
- Egg
- Thickens the sauce as it sets with gentle heat and adds richness.
- Brandy
- Adds a warm, aromatic flavour to the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the second sauce as its starch swells in hot liquid.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and bright aroma that balance the sweetness.
The step that matters
Adding the well-beaten egg. Eggs can curdle or scramble if they meet very hot liquid. Cooling the sauce slightly before adding the egg lets it thicken gently and stay smooth.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, brandy, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, brandy, flour. 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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