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Dessert

Opera Caramels

A caramel confection made with sugar, sweet cream, cream of tartar, vanilla, nuts, and chocolate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Opera Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Combine sugar and sweet cream in a saucepan.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Add cream of tartar.

  4. Continue boiling until it reaches a medium ball stage.

  5. Pour the mixture onto a platter.

  6. Work it like center cream until it can be rolled up dry.

  7. Cover with a wet cloth for one hour.

  8. Mash down the mixture with your hands.

Flavour and shape

  1. Divide it into three parts.

  2. Mix vanilla into one part.

  3. Mix nut meats into another part.

  4. Melt chocolate for the last part.

  5. Roll each part out to about one inch thick.

  6. Cut into ½ inch squares.

  7. Let the squares sit for one hour before using.

  8. Optionally, cut some pieces into smaller sizes.

  9. Dip them in 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. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

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

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 sweet bulk of the candy and sets firm as the mixture cools and is worked.
Sweet cream
Adds fat and moisture, giving the caramel a soft, creamy texture.
Cream of tartar
Acidity that helps prevent sugar crystals from forming, keeping the candy smooth.
Nut meats
Add crunchy texture and a toasted, nutty flavour to one portion.

The step that matters

Continue boiling until it reaches a medium ball stage. Cooking sugar to the right temperature controls how firm the candy sets. Too little boiling leaves it soft and sticky; too much 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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