Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
To Prepare Butter for Rich Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the butter into small pieces and gently melt it in a warmed saucepan, ensuring it does not get hot.
Once liquefied, pour the melted butter in small portions into the mixed ingredients.
If the butter is very hard, soften it slightly by holding it near the fire.
Use the back of a large wooden spoon to beat the softened butter until it resembles thick cream.
Add the sugar to the creamed butter first, then incorporate the other ingredients in succession.
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 + sugartop 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
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