Why it works: Butter and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,645 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Hard Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, beat the powdered sugar and softened butter together until creamy.
Gently fold in the beaten egg white until well combined.
Add your choice of flavoring, such as wine, brandy, lemon extract, or vanilla extract.
Grate a little nutmeg over the top 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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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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + winetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg white
- Whipped to stiff peaks, it lightens the sauce and gives it a fluffy, airy texture.
- Butter
- Softened and beaten with the sugar, it adds richness and a smooth, creamy body.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves easily into the butter, providing sweetness and a smooth texture.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg white. Stirring vigorously deflates the whipped egg white foam, which makes the sauce dense instead of light and airy. Folding keeps the air bubbles intact.
“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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