Why it works: Sugar and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,679 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Maple Almond Bar
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Dissolve the sugar scrap in a clean kettle and strain it.
Cook the mixture to 240°F (115°C).
Mix and set
Remove from heat and add glucose, fondant, almonds, and maple extract.
Stir until the mixture is thick.
Pour onto a paper-lined slab to a height of ½ inch.
Once set, cut into bars that are 1 inch wide and 4 inches long.
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 + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 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 scrap
- Forms the sweet base that cooks down into the bar's body.
- Glucose
- Helps prevent sugar crystallisation, keeping the bar smooth and tender.
- Fondant
- Adds soft sugar structure and a smooth, creamy texture to the bar.
- Almonds
- Add nutty flavour and a bit of crunch to the bar.
The step that matters
Cooking the mixture to 240°F (115°C). This temperature sets how much water remains in the sugar. Undercooking leaves the bar 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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