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Dessert

Maple Cream

Maple Cream is a sweet confection made from maple sugar syrup, nuts, and thick cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Maple Cream

Why it works: Walnut and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 993 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Maple Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Combine the maple sugar and cold water in a saucepan over low heat to dissolve, removing any scum that rises.

  2. Wash the inside of the saucepan with a brush dipped in cold water, being careful not to disturb the syrup.

  3. Cover the pan until steam escapes freely, then leave it uncovered.

  4. If the syrup is clear without scum, continue boiling; if not, add another ½ cup of water and repeat until clear.

  5. Boil the syrup to the soft ball stage.

Shape and set

  1. Pour the syrup onto a wet board and smooth it with a wooden spatula dipped in cold water.

  2. While cooling, add the thick cream and chopped nuts, kneading until well mixed.

  3. Roll out the mixture on the board to about ½ inch thick and cut into squares.

  4. Allow to dry for several hours.

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.

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.

  1. Walnut + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together993 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  3. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

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

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

  5. Walnut + creamtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,982 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

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

What each ingredient does

Maple sugar
Forms the sweet syrup base that crystallises into the creamy candy texture.
Thick cream
Adds fat and richness, making the candy softer and smoother.
Walnuts
Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavour contrast to the soft candy.
Almonds
Add crunch and a nutty flavour contrast to the soft candy.

The step that matters

Boil the syrup to the soft ball stage without disturbing it. Sugar concentration at the soft ball stage controls the final texture; stirring or disturbing the syrup while it cooks can trigger premature crystallisation, leaving a grainy result instead of a smooth cream.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, almond, cream):

  1. Pistachiofits better
  2. Cashew nutfits better
  3. Brazil nutfits better
  4. Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, almond, cream. 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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