Why it works: Egg and butter 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 ↓
Nice Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the eggs and sugar together until well combined.
Melt the butter in the boiling water by placing it in the top of a tea kettle.
Just before serving, pour the melted butter and water mixture over the egg and sugar mixture, stirring briskly.
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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Egg + buttertop 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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Eggs
- Provide structure and richness, thickening the sauce as they combine with the hot liquid.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps stabilize the beaten eggs.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel and flavor.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot butter and water over the eggs and sugar. Stirring briskly while adding the hot liquid helps distribute heat evenly, so the egg proteins warm gradually and the sauce stays smooth instead of curdling in streaks.
“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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