why do sauces split

[Royal Pollen]

why do sauces split.

I split my sauce last night and after 1.5 hours of cooking the thing i was really psesid off. It had butter and cream in it and was holding together till i took it off the heat and it cooled some. when i put it back on the heat....bang split. Why and how do you get it back?

[lia*]

be grateful you did not burn yourself with the spill. i trust you did not get burn. it could have been worst. don't be ****** off. i know you are disappointed by not having it for your supper, just think about all the calories..........

[Amara]

What kind of sauce was it and what kind of cream did you use?

[shaneystar2]

It could depend on the cream ..single cream is more likely to split than double cream...or you could have heated it up too quickly .
You could try mixing a small amount of cornflour with water and then whisk it into the sauce fast. It stops any cream based sauce from splitting.

[Royal Pollen]

it was a tarragan butter sauce. shallot, tarragon, white wine Vin., white wine, fish stock, 1tbl double-cream, 100g butter, S & P.