Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
German or Custard Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks, sugar, and sherry until well combined.
Place the mixture in a jam pot and set it in a saucepan of boiling water.
Stir the mixture over heat until it begins to thicken, then 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.
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 + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sherrytop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they set with gentle heat, giving it a rich, creamy body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and balances the tartness of the sherry.
- Sherry
- Adds aromatic, fruity flavour and thins the custard base slightly.
The step that matters
Stir the mixture over heat until it begins to thicken. Egg yolks set at low temperatures, but overheating makes them scramble and curdle. Gentle, constant stirring over moderate heat keeps the sauce smooth and creamy.
“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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