Why it works: Butter and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,645 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Jelly Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Melt the sugar and jelly in boiling water over the fire.
Add the butter and stir until melted.
Dissolve the cornstarch in the water or wine and stir it into the jelly mixture.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Keep warm
Set the sauce in a dish of hot water to keep warm, stirring occasionally.
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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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + winetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth sauce when heated.
- Jelly
- Provides sweetness and fruity flavour, and sets the sauce's body as it dissolves.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a glossy mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the sauce's flavour.
The step that matters
Dissolve the cornstarch fully before adding it to the hot mixture. Cornstarch added as dry powder or unevenly mixed clumps instead of thickening smoothly. Dissolving it in cold water or wine first lets the starch disperse evenly, so it thickens uniformly when the mixture boils.
“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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