Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Caramel Frosting
Ingredients
Directions
Combine brown sugar, thin cream, and butter in a smooth saucepan.
Boil the mixture until a ball can be formed when tested in cold water.
Beat the mixture until it reaches the right consistency to spread.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown sugar
- Provides sweetness and the caramel flavour as it cooks down.
- Thin cream
- Adds moisture and fat, giving the frosting a smoother, softer texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, spreadable texture.
The step that matters
Boiling to the soft-ball stage. Sugar syrup changes character as its water boils off and its concentration rises. Stopping at the right point, tested by forming a ball in cold water, sets how firm the frosting will be once beaten. Boiling too short leaves it runny, and too long makes it hard and grainy.
“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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