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 ↓
Cold Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Beat the butter until creamy.
Gradually add the sugar, then mix in the hot water and vanilla extract.
Continue mixing until smooth and creamy.
Finish and serve
Transfer to a small dish and grate nutmeg on top.
Serve with any kind of hot pudding.
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).
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Vanilla + nutmegtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,781 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to give the sauce a rich, smooth body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps it become light and creamy when beaten with butter.
- Hot water
- Loosens the mixture and helps the sugar dissolve for a smooth texture.
The step that matters
Gradually add the sugar. Adding sugar slowly while beating lets it dissolve and incorporate evenly into the butter. Dumping it in at once can leave a grainy texture and uneven creaminess.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, vanilla):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Clovefits less well
- Peppermintfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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