Why it works: Sugar and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Marshmallow Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sugar and milk mixture
Boil sugar and milk together until it threads.
Remove from heat and cool until lukewarm, then beat until thick.
Set this mixture in a pan of hot water and stir until soft enough to pour.
Melt and combine
Place marshmallows and water in a double boiler to melt.
When melted, add the sugar and milk mixture.
Keep all mixed together in the double boiler until ready to serve, keeping it warm, not hot.
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 + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Marshmallows
- Melt into a smooth, pourable base that gives the sauce its sweet, creamy body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and, when boiled with milk, adds body as the mixture thickens.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and richness, lending a creamy texture to the cooked sugar mixture.
The step that matters
Keep the sauce warm, not hot. Marshmallows and sugar can scorch or grow grainy and stiff if overheated, so the double boiler should hold gentle warmth while the sauce stays pourable.
“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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