Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, mix the butter and sugar until well combined.
Add the beaten egg white and mix thoroughly.
Fold in the mashed strawberries until evenly incorporated.
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 + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the sauce a smooth, creamy body.
- Sugar
- Creamed with butter, it adds sweetness and helps give the mixture its texture.
- Egg white
- Adds protein that helps bind and lightly structure the mixture.
- Mashed strawberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour, natural sweetness, acidity and moisture.
The step that matters
Fold in the mashed strawberries. Folding gently keeps the mixture airy and blends the fruit evenly without deflating the beaten egg white or overworking the sauce.
“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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