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Brandy Sauce

A sweet, spiced sauce made with butter, sugar, egg yolk, corn starch, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Brandy Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy.

  2. Add the egg yolk and corn starch, mixing well.

  3. In a pot, bring the boiling water to a simmer and add the cinnamon and nutmeg.

  4. Let the spices boil for a few minutes, then stir in the butter mixture.

  5. Stir continuously until just about to boil, then remove from heat to prevent curdling.

  6. Add the brandy and mix well.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Corn + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together647 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Corn + nutmegtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together563 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Butter + corntop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,345 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolk
Thickens the sauce and adds richness as it sets with gentle heat.
Corn starch
Thickens the liquid into a smooth, glossy sauce when heated.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the sauce.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the butter beat into a creamy base.

The step that matters

Stir continuously until just about to boil, then remove from heat. Egg yolk can curdle and turn grainy if it overheats. Stirring keeps heat even, and removing the pan just before boiling protects the smooth texture.

“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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