Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel
Caramelize the sugar in an omelet pan, stirring constantly.
Add the boiling water slowly.
Stir until well blended.
Simmer and finish
Simmer gently for ten minutes.
Cool the sauce.
Add a few drops of vanilla extract.
Serve cold.
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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Granulated sugar
- Caramelizes into a brown, flavorful base that gives the sauce its sweetness and color.
- Boiling water
- Dissolves the hot caramel into a pourable liquid sauce.
- Vanilla extract
- Adds a warm aroma that rounds out the caramel flavor.
The step that matters
Add the boiling water slowly. Molten sugar is far hotter than water, so adding water quickly can make the caramel spatter violently and seize into hard lumps. Pouring slowly and stirring lets the water mix in gradually 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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