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Dessert

Sauce for Same

A chilled gelatin-based sauce made with eggs, cream, sherry, sugar, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and gelatin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,628 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Sauce for Same

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Beat the yolks of two eggs until light.

  2. Beat the whites of two eggs until stiff.

  3. Add powdered sugar to the whites.

  4. Combine the yolks and whites.

  5. Add hot cream and sherry wine to the mixture.

  6. Dissolve the gelatin in boiling water.

  7. Stir in sugar and vanilla.

  8. Add the beaten yolks to the mixture.

Finish and set

  1. Whip the cream.

  2. Fold the whipped cream into the mixture.

  3. Line a glass bowl with sponge lady fingers.

  4. Pour the mixture into the bowl.

  5. Garnish the top as desired.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cream + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sherry + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together506 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, 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

Egg yolks
Enrich the mixture and add richness and a smooth, custard-like texture.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they add lightness and airy volume to the mixture.
Gelatin
Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
Cream
Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture and helps the dessert feel creamy.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the mixture and dissolves easily into the whipped whites.
Sponge lady fingers
Form a soft, absorbent base and edge that holds the filling in the bowl.

The step that matters

Fold the whipped cream into the mixture. Folding gently keeps the air in the whipped cream and egg whites; stirring or beating would deflate it, leaving a dense rather than light set dessert.

“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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