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Dessert

Sherry Sauce

A sweet sauce made with butter, powdered sugar, egg whites, sherry, and boiling water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,505 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Sherry Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Beat the base

  1. Cream the butter and mix in the powdered sugar.

  2. Add one unbeaten egg white and beat well.

  3. Add the second egg white and beat until very light.

Add the liquids and heat

  1. Stir in the sherry and boiling water.

  2. Place the bowl in a saucepan of boiling water on the stove and beat until foamy.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,505 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,141 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

Butter
Adds richness and a tender, smooth body to the sauce.
Egg whites
Whipped, they trap air and give the sauce its light, foamy texture.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the sauce and dissolves smoothly into the creamed butter.
Sherry
Contributes the main flavor and aroma of the sauce.

The step that matters

Beat over the simmering water until foamy. Gentle warmth helps the egg whites foam and loosen, but if the bowl gets too hot the proteins begin to cook and the sauce can turn grainy instead of light.

“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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