Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
To Make Fondant
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine sugar, cream of tartar, and water in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil without stirring until it reaches the soft ball stage (238°F or 114°C).
To test, drop a little into cold water; if it forms a soft ball, it's done.
Cool and finish
Remove from heat and let it cool until a crust forms.
Stir until thick and creamy; if grainy, cook again with a little cold water.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Forms the syrup, and its fine crystals give fondant its smooth, soft body.
- Cream of tartar
- Its acid helps keep sugar crystals small, so the fondant stays smooth.
The step that matters
Boil without stirring. Stirring while the syrup boils can splash sugar onto the pan sides and seed unwanted crystals, which make the finished fondant grainy. Let the syrup reach temperature undisturbed.
“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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