Sweet Sauce, for Puddings

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.

1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together41,516 recipes

   Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together43,450 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

3. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together30,779 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

4. Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together17,784 recipes

   Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

5. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together98,233 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Butter

Melted butter forms the fat base that carries the sugar and flavor and gives the sauce its richness.

Sugar

Dissolves into the warm butter to add sweetness and balance the spice flavoring.

Cream

Adds fat and softness, making the sauce smoother and richer when stirred in at the end.

The step that matters

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, cream):

1. Nutmegfits about as well
2. Cinnamonthe original
3. Tarragonfits less well
4. Gingerfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.