Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light.
Add the egg yolks and cornstarch, mixing well.
Gradually stir in enough boiling water to achieve a thick cream consistency.
Add wine or brandy to taste.
Serve
For the apple pudding sauce, boil good molasses with a little butter and serve hot.
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 + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + arrowroottop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,073 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps give the creamed base its light texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and creaming it with sugar traps air for a light texture.
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify and enrich the sauce, adding body and a smooth, custard-like texture.
- Cornstarch or arrowroot
- Thickens the sauce as it is heated with the liquid, giving it body.
The step that matters
Stirring in the boiling water. Water must be added gradually while stirring so the mixture blends smoothly and reaches a thick cream consistency rather than becoming lumpy or thin.
Swap the arrowroot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, wine, molasses):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Arrowrootthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, wine, molasses. 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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