Why it works: Butter and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,645 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Rich Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the butter until creamy.
Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until very light.
Slowly add the hot wine, mixing continuously.
Place the bowl in a basin of hot water and stir for 2 minutes until smooth and foamy.
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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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + winetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides fat and richness, and when beaten it traps air that gives the sauce a light, creamy body.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and dissolves easily into the butter, adding to its smooth, light texture.
- Wine
- Adds acidity and flavour, and its liquid loosens the butter-sugar mixture into a pourable sauce.
The step that matters
Adding the hot wine slowly while mixing. If hot liquid is poured in quickly, the butter can separate or curdle instead of forming a smooth emulsion. Adding it slowly while mixing lets the fat and liquid combine evenly.
“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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