Name: Sultana Sauce
Ingredients: ½ cup sultana raisins; ½ cup boiling water; ½ cup granulated sugar; 2 tablespoons butter

Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Sultana Sauce

Ingredients

½ cup sultana raisins
½ cup boiling water
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Stew the sultana raisins in boiling water for 10 minutes.
Add the granulated sugar and butter, stirring until combined.

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.

Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Raisin + buttertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,630 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sultana raisins: Provide the fruity body and sweetness of the sauce as they soften in water.
Granulated sugar: Adds sweetness and helps give the sauce a smooth, glossy body.
Butter: Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished sauce.