Why it works: Spirit and wine work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 701 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓
Sugar Candy
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the mould
Prepare a conical mould and cover it with double paper, making sure it is dry.
Heat a stove to 350°F (175°C).
Make the syrup
In a pan, add clarified sugar and heat until it reaches the 'feather' stage.
Skim the syrup, then remove it from the heat.
Stir in a small amount of spirits of wine.
Let the syrup rest until a small skin forms on the surface, then skim off the skin.
Set and unmould
Pour the syrup into the mould.
Place the mould in the stove and maintain the temperature for eight days.
After eight days, drain the candy by making a hole in the mould and tilting it over a basin to catch the drippings.
Let it drain for twelve hours until completely dry.
Moisten the paper with warm water.
Warm the mould.
Carefully remove the candy.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Spirit + winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together701 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Sugar + spirittop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together602 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + winetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 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
- Clarified sugar
- Forms the bulk of the candy and sets into a hard, crystalline mass as the syrup cools.
- Spirits of wine
- Added in small amount to the syrup, helping to limit crystallisation during the long rest.
The step that matters
Skimming the syrup before pouring. Skimming removes impurities and the surface skin that would otherwise mar the clarity and texture of the set candy.
“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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