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Xxx Fondant for Cheap Centers

Fondant made from sugar, glucose, water, gelatine, cream of tartar, and egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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 ↓

Xxx Fondant for Cheap Centers

Ingredients

Directions

Make the fondant base

  1. Dissolve the sugar and glucose in water and cook to 238°F (114°C).

  2. Pour the mixture onto a damp slab and immediately add the warm glucose. Cream the mixture while it is still warm.

Make the cheap-center fondant

  1. Dissolve the gelatine in hot water and set aside.

  2. Cook 30 lbs. sugar, 6 qts. water, and cream of tartar to 262°F (128°C). Remove from heat and add the dissolved gelatine.

  3. Pour onto a damp slab and let cool.

  4. Once cool, add the white of 6 beaten eggs and cream the mixture.

Finish

  1. Divide into parts, flavor each, roll out to desired size, and dip in bittersweet chocolate.

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.

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

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

  2. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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 fondant and, when cooled and creamed, gives it a smooth, firm body.
Glucose
Interferes with sugar crystallization, keeping the fondant smooth and soft rather than grainy.
Gelatine
Adds elasticity and body, helping the fondant hold its shape when rolled out.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the syrup, helping prevent sugar from crystallizing during cooking.
White of eggs
Adds protein and stiffens the mixture as it is creamed, giving a lighter texture.

The step that matters

Pouring onto a damp slab and creaming while warm. Sugar syrup must cool slowly in a thin layer and be worked while still warm so that small, fine crystals form. Stirring or creaming too late, or while too hot, can produce a grainy or hard texture.

“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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