Why it works: Corn and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,345 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Cherry Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, combine the sugar and boiling water.
Stir in the corn starch and mashed cherries.
Cook over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and thick.
Remove from heat and stir in the butter.
Serve
Serve hot.
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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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + corntop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn starch
- Thickens the sauce as it heats, giving it body and a smooth, glossy texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the tartness of the cherries.
- Mashed cherries
- Provide the main fruit flavour and color, and some body to the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel when stirred in off the heat.
The step that matters
Cook until smooth and thick. Corn starch must be heated until its granules swell and gelatinize, or the sauce stays cloudy and thin. Stirring while it cooks prevents lumps and scorching on the bottom of the pan.
“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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