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Dessert

Maple Nougat Bar

A maple nougat bar made with maple sugar, cream, bitter chocolate, glucose, fondant, and dry frappe powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 ↓

Maple Nougat Bar

Ingredients

Directions

Make the nougat

  1. Combine maple sugar and cream in a large pot.

  2. Cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches 260°F (127°C).

  3. Remove from heat.

  4. Stir in bitter chocolate, glucose, and fondant until fully dissolved.

  5. Add dry frappe powder and mix well.

  6. Beat the mixture until it thickens.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture into a tray lined with wafer sheets.

  2. Place a board on top.

  3. Press down with a weight.

  4. Let it set overnight.

  5. Cut into 5-inch bars.

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. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Maple sugar
Provides the main sweetness and maple flavour of the nougat.
Cream
Adds fat and richness, giving the nougat a softer, creamier texture.
Bitter chocolate
Adds deep, bitter flavour that balances the sweetness.
Glucose
Interferes with sugar crystallisation, keeping the nougat smooth and chewy.
Fondant
Adds sugar structure and body, helping the nougat set firm yet tender.
Dry frappe powder
Acts as an aerating agent that lightens the texture as the mixture is beaten.

The step that matters

Cooking to 260°F (127°C). Sugar concentration at this temperature determines how firmly the nougat sets. Undercooking leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it hard and 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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