Why it works: Sugar and tea are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 31% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,204 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Horehound Candy
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 295°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the syrup
Combine sugar, glucose, and horehound tea in a kettle.
Stir until the mixture boils.
Wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth.
Insert a thermometer and cook until it reaches 295°F to 300°F.
Remove the thermometer and quickly take the kettle off the heat.
Shape and store
Pour the mixture onto a greased slab, spreading it to about ¼ inch thick.
Once it cools slightly, run a long knife underneath to loosen it.
Mark the candy into squares of desired size with a knife.
Continue to score the marks until the candy is cold, then break it apart by hand.
Pack the candy in an airtight jar and store in a cool place.
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 + teatop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,204 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Forms the bulk of the candy and sets firm into a brittle, crisp texture as it cooks.
- Glucose
- Inhibits sugar crystallization, keeping the candy smooth and clear rather than grainy.
- Horehound tea
- Supplies the liquid for dissolving the sugar and gives the candy its characteristic herbal flavour.
The step that matters
Cooking to 295°F to 300°F. Sugar syrup must reach this hard-crack range to set brittle when cooled. Stopping early leaves a sticky candy, while going too far scorches the sugar and tastes bitter.
“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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