See? It works

I've received my first "help me" post:

"Dear benevolent, caring, handsome Mr. (Bad) Meat,

I love a good cream-based sauce (not necessarily alfredo, but that's an example) however, I am a miserable failure and throw myself at your mercy. The damn thing always breaks. I do not want to resort to flour or other thickener. Please help me.

Most Respectfully,
joe positive"

Well Joe, I think that I can help you. There are a few things to consider.

First, what is cream? Cream is a combination of water, fat, and milk solids suspended in solution. This suspension is called "emulsification" How a cream sauce thickens is by boiling it. What's that steam rising from the pan? It's water, and the way that the sauce thickens is by reducing the water content in the cream, leaving fat and milk solids and thinkening the sauce. The "emulsification" is held in state by a proper balance of water to fat and milk solids.

"Thanks for the science lesson, you pompous bastard". (not from Joe, but from me)

How does this translate to how why your sauce breaks? You're cooking too much water out of the sauce. In making an Alfredo sauce, where you add cheese, reduce the sauce to almost the consistency that you want, and THEN add the cheese, stirring like your life depends on it. By adding the cheese too early, you're increasing the fat content of the emulsion, which means the sauce will break before enough water cooks out to make it thick. If not adding cheese, reduce the heat from a rapid boil to a simmer as the sauce starts to get close to the proper thickness. You'll have a better point of view and more control over the boil.

If all else fails, and your sauce still breaks, you can save it by pouring it into a blender, add a couple of drops of water (to get the balance of fat and water back) and set the blender on puree for about 10 seconds. Instant re-emulsification.

Hope this helps.