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
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the taffy base
In a large pot, combine sugar, glucose, and enough water to dissolve the sugar.
Cook the mixture until it reaches 300°F (150°C).
Add fruit and nuts and set
Remove from heat and stir in assorted French fruits and nuts until well combined.
Spread the mixture on a slab to a height suitable for bars.
Cut into bars once set.
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 main body of the taffy and sets firm as the mixture cools.
- Glucose
- Inhibits crystallization, keeping the taffy smooth and preventing grainy sugar.
- Assorted french fruits
- Adds flavor, color, and some moisture to the finished taffy.
- Assorted nuts
- Adds texture and crunch to the chewy taffy.
The step that matters
Cooking to 300°F (150°C). Cooking the sugar syrup to the right temperature controls its water content, which determines whether the taffy sets firm or stays soft. Undercooking leaves it sticky; 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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