Why it works: Sugar and nuts are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,228 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Fruit Bar Taffy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the taffy
In a large pot, combine sugar and glucose with enough water to dissolve.
Cook the mixture over medium heat until it reaches 300°F (150°C).
Add fruit and nuts
Remove from heat and stir in assorted French fruits and nuts until well combined.
Set and cut
Spread the mixture on a slab to a height suitable for bars.
Cut into bars once cooled.
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 + nutstop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,228 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Forms the sweet, firm body of the taffy as it cooks and sets.
- Glucose
- Prevents sugar crystals from forming, keeping the taffy smooth and chewy rather than grainy.
- Assorted french fruits
- Add flavour, acidity and moisture to the sugar base.
- Assorted nuts
- Add crunch and texture contrast to the chewy taffy.
The step that matters
Cooking to 300°F (150°C). Cooking the sugar syrup to this temperature drives off water so the taffy sets firm once cool. Stopping early leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it brittle.
“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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