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Dessert

Brandy Sauce

A sauce made with butter, sugar, egg yolk, cornstarch, spices, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Brandy Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl.

  2. Add egg yolk and cornstarch, mixing well.

Cook the sauce

  1. In a saucepan, bring boiling water to a simmer and add cinnamon and nutmeg.

  2. Let spices boil for a few minutes, then stir in the butter mixture.

  3. Stir continuously until just before boiling, then remove from heat to prevent curdling.

  4. Add brandy for flavor.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Cinnamon + brandytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Nutmeg + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,311 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,127 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the sauce.
Egg yolk
Enriches the sauce and helps thicken it as it heats.
Cornstarch
Thickens the liquid into a smooth, glossy sauce when heated.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the richness of the butter and egg.
Brandy
Adds a warm, aromatic flavor to finish the sauce.

The step that matters

Stir continuously until just before boiling, then remove from heat. Egg yolk can curdle if it overheats, and cornstarch needs heat to thicken. Constant stirring spreads heat evenly, and removing the pan just before boiling keeps the sauce smooth.

“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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