Why it works: Rum and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,908 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Sauce for Christmas Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan with ¼ cup of water.
Place the saucepan in a larger pan of boiling water.
Whisk briskly until the mixture thickens and becomes frothy.
Serve
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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Rum + sugartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,908 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rum + eggtop 27% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,589 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the sauce as they heat, giving it body and a smooth, creamy texture.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and helps stabilise the whisked egg foam.
- Rum or brandy
- Adds the main alcoholic flavour and aroma to the sauce.
The step that matters
Whisk over gently boiling water. Eggs thicken as they warm, but if the mixture gets too hot it can curdle or scramble. Whisking briskly spreads the heat evenly and keeps the sauce smooth while it thickens.
“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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