Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Sauce for Same
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Beat the butter until creamy.
Gradually add the powdered sugar and continue beating until very light.
Add the cream and flavor to taste.
Cook
Cook for a few minutes in a double boiler.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides richness and fat, and beating it until creamy gives the sauce its smooth body.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness, and beating it in makes the sauce light and soft.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and a smooth, rich texture that loosens the sauce.
The step that matters
Cook in a double boiler. Butter and cream can scorch or separate over direct heat. A double boiler warms the sauce gently with indirect steam, keeping the emulsion smooth and the flavor clean.
“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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