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Dessert

Peanut Fudge

A sweet confection made from sugar, glucose, milk, fondant, peanuts, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Peanut Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 238°F (114°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the fudge base

  1. In a large pot, combine sugar, glucose, and milk.

  2. Cook the mixture until it reaches 238°F (114°C).

Finish and set

  1. Remove from heat and stir in fondant and vanilla extract.

  2. Continue stirring until the mixture is thick and cool.

  3. Fold in the blanched roasted peanuts.

  4. Spread the mixture onto a paper-lined slab.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

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

  3. Peanut + vanillatop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,176 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Milk + peanuttop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,048 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  5. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

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

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
Provides sweetness and, as it cooks, builds the firm structure of the fudge.
Glucose
Inhibits sugar crystallization, keeping the fudge smooth and less grainy.
Milk
Adds moisture and milk solids that contribute to a creamy texture and browning during cooking.
Fondant
Adds smoothness and body, helping the fudge stay soft and creamy as it cools.
Blanched roasted peanuts
Add crunch and nutty flavor that contrast with the smooth fudge.

The step that matters

Stirring while the mixture cools. Stirring as the cooked sugar mixture cools encourages fine crystals to form, giving a smooth texture. Stopping too early or stirring unevenly can leave the fudge grainy or cause it to set unevenly.

Swap the peanut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, vanilla):

  1. Chestnutfits better
  2. Cocoafits better
  3. Almondfits better
  4. Peanutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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