Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
In a saucepan, combine egg yolks, salt, sugar, butter, and vinegar.
Steam the mixture until it thickens.
Finish
Allow it to cool, then stir in the sweet cream.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + buttertop 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the dressing as they set with gentle heat, giving it body and richness.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that balances the sweetness and richness of the dressing.
- Sweet cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy texture when stirred in at the end.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the acidity of the vinegar.
The step that matters
Steam the mixture until it thickens. Egg yolks thicken when gently heated, but too much heat can scramble them into lumps. Cooking slowly and stopping once the mixture coats a spoon keeps the dressing smooth.
“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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