Why it works: Butter and cream 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 ↓
Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Beat the butter until creamy.
Gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat.
Mix in the wine until well combined.
Stir in the cream.
Serve
Serve the sauce over hot water and stir until smooth and creamy.
Serve immediately.
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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Butter + creamtop 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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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Wine + creamtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,887 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides fat and richness, and beating it creates a creamy base for the sauce.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and dissolves into the fat to give the sauce a smooth texture.
- Wine
- Adds flavor and aroma to the sauce.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, helping the sauce become smooth and pourable.
The step that matters
Gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat. Adding the sugar slowly while beating lets it blend evenly into the butter. Dumping it in at once can leave lumps and a grainy texture that stirring rarely fixes.
“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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