Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Anotheb Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Beat together the sugar, butter, Madeira wine, and eggs for 30 minutes.
Heat the mixture gently until it is scalded, but do not let it boil.
If you want a richer yellow color, add one more egg.
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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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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + madeira winetop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together343 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + madeira winetop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together637 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the sauce as they heat and add richness and a yellow color.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the sauce a smooth, velvety body.
- Fine white sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps give it a smooth texture.
- Madeira wine
- Adds acidity and a distinctive aroma that flavors the sauce.
The step that matters
Heating without boiling. Egg proteins set and thicken the sauce as it warms, but boiling can curdle or scramble them. Heat gently and stop once the mixture is scalded.
“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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