Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Brandy Sauce for Ice Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Boil the sugar and water together until thick.
Let the mixture cool.
Finish the sauce
Add the brandy to the cooled mixture.
Fold in the whipped cream gently.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Brandy + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,635 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Provides sweetness and, when boiled down, a thick syrupy body.
- Brandy
- Adds the characteristic aroma and warm, boozy flavor.
- Whipped cream
- Adds lightness and a smooth, creamy texture through trapped air and fat.
The step that matters
Fold in the whipped cream gently. Whipped cream holds its volume because of air bubbles trapped in the fat. Stirring vigorously or briskly beating it in knocks out that air, leaving the sauce dense and flat instead of light and creamy.
“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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