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Dessert

Almond Candy

A sweet confection made from molasses, brown sugar, blanched almonds, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,245 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Almond Candy

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the base

  1. Combine molasses and brown sugar in a porcelain-lined kettle.

  2. Set the kettle over medium heat and let it boil for about 3 hours.

  3. Stir in the butter just before removing from heat.

  4. Add the almonds and mix well.

Pull and shape

  1. Separate some mixture for lighter candy.

  2. Finely chop some almonds.

  3. Pull the candy at arm's length until it turns light yellow or straw-colored.

  4. Twist the candy.

  5. Cut the candy into sticks.

Pan and finish

  1. Butter flat pans.

  2. Pour the remaining candy into the pans.

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. Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Provides sweetness, moisture and a deep flavour that gives the candy its body.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and caramel notes while helping the mixture cook to a firm, chewy set.
Almonds
Add crunch and nutty flavour that contrast with the chewy candy.
Butter
Adds fat that softens the candy's texture and gives it a smooth, glossy finish.

The step that matters

Pulling the candy until it turns light yellow or straw-colored. Pulling cools and stretches the molten sugar, incorporating air so it lightens in colour and sets chewy. Stop at the stated colour, because the candy keeps firming as it cools.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, butter, egg):

  1. Almondthe original
  2. Pecansfits about as well
  3. Walnutfits less well
  4. Nutsfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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