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 ↓
Cold ‘sabayon’, with Kirsh
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Combine the egg yolks and whole eggs in a saucepan and whip the mixture together.
Add the powdered sugar and kirsch, mixing well.
Heat and serve
Heat the mixture over a moderate flame or in a double boiler, whisking until frothy.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Provide richness and emulsifying proteins that give the sabayon its creamy body.
- Whole eggs
- Add protein that thickens and helps build a light, frothy structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the whisked foam hold together.
- Kirsch
- Adds cherry aroma and flavour to the sauce.
The step that matters
Heat the mixture over a moderate flame or in a double boiler, whisking until frothy. Egg proteins set at around 160°F, so gentle, steady heat with constant whisking thickens the mixture into a foam. Too much heat scrambles the eggs into lumps.
“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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