Why it works: Brandy and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,127 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Foam Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the foam
Beat the sugar and egg yolks together in a bowl.
Set the bowl in boiling water and stir until hot.
Gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Serve
Place a small piece of butter and the brandy in a dish.
Pour the sugar and egg mixture over the butter and brandy just before serving.
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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Brandy + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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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).
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Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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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
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps the yolk mixture hold a smooth, thick body.
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken with gentle heat, and whites whip into an airy foam.
- Brandy
- Adds a warm, boozy aroma that flavours the sauce when poured over it.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that rounds out the flavour of the sauce.
The step that matters
Heating the yolk mixture over boiling water. Egg yolks thicken gradually as they warm, but if they get too hot they can scramble and turn grainy. Stirring keeps the heat even so the mixture becomes smooth and thick.
“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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