Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the caramel
Melt the brown sugar in a saucepan and cook until slightly browned.
Add the boiling water to the melted sugar.
Thicken and finish
In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and salt with the cold water.
Add the cornstarch mixture to the syrup and cook until there is no taste of raw starch.
Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.
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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Brown sugar
- Melts and browns to give the sauce its caramel flavour and sweetness.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth, pourable sauce as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smoother, rounder mouthfeel to the finished sauce.
The step that matters
Cook the cornstarch mixture until no raw starch taste remains. Cornstarch must be heated with liquid until its granules swell and gelatinise. If it is not cooked long enough, the sauce stays cloudy and tastes starchy, and it may not thicken fully.
“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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