Why it works: Butter and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,594 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Coffee Fudge
Ingredients
Directions
Combine sugar and coffee in a saucepan.
Add butter or cream.
Boil until a spoonful stiffens when beaten.
Remove from heat and beat hard with a spoon until the candy begins to stiffen.
Quickly mix in the nut meats and pour into a buttered tin.
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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Butter + meattop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + coffeetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Coffee + meattop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together173 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Coffee + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,442 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated sugar
- Forms the candy base and, once cooked and cooled, sets into a firm, sweet fudge.
- Strong coffee
- Supplies the liquid that dissolves the sugar and gives the fudge its coffee flavour.
- Butter or rich cream
- Adds fat, which softens the texture and makes the fudge smoother and less brittle.
- Shellbark or pecan nut meats
- Add crunch and a toasted, nutty flavour against the sweet candy.
The step that matters
Beating after removing from heat. Beating while the candy cools forms many tiny sugar crystals, which makes the fudge creamy. If you wait too long, it sets hard in the pan; if you stop too early, it stays soft and runny. Mix in the nuts quickly, before it stiffens too far to pour.
“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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