Why it works: Sugar and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Brandy or Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Combine water and sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves.
Mix cornstarch with cold water to form a paste.
Add the cornstarch mixture to the boiling syrup, stirring constantly until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in brandy or wine.
Serve warm over desserts.
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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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the syrup into a smooth sauce as it heats and gelatinizes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and dissolves into the water to form a syrup.
- Brandy or wine
- Adds aroma and flavor when stirred in off the heat.
The step that matters
Adding the cornstarch mixture to the boiling syrup. Cornstarch must be mixed with cold water first so it does not clump, then stirred constantly while the syrup boils so the starch thickens evenly. Stirring prevents lumps and scorching on the bottom of the pan.
“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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