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Dessert

Almond Gems

A candied almond confection made with sugar, molasses, butter, and almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Almond Gems

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the syrup

  1. In a large pot, combine sugar, water, and cream of tartar.

  2. Stir until dissolved, then cook the mixture to 300°F (150°C).

  3. Add the molasses and butter, stirring briefly.

Add almonds and shape

  1. Pour the mixture out onto a surface and scatter the chopped almonds over it.

  2. Work the mixture together and run it through a drop machine.

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Forms the main sweet structure, which sets firm as the cooked syrup cools.
Cream of tartar
Its mild acidity helps keep the sugar from recrystallising into grainy texture.
New orleans molasses
Adds deep flavour, colour, and a slightly softer, chewier bite.
Sweet butter
Adds fat for a richer flavour and a smoother, less brittle texture.
Chopped almonds
Add crunch, nutty aroma, and texture contrast to the sugar mass.

The step that matters

Cooking the mixture to 300°F (150°C). Sugar syrup hardens as its water boils off, so the final temperature controls how firm the candy becomes. Too low gives a sticky, soft result, while going too high makes it brittle or scorched.

“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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