Name: Lemon Stick Candy
Ingredients: 15 pounds sugar; 2 quarts water; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; lemon oil

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Lemon Stick Candy

Ingredients

15 pounds sugar
2 quarts water
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
lemon oil

Directions

Make the syrup

Combine sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a small copper kettle.
Heat over a good fire.
Stir until the sugar dissolves.
Wash down the sides of the pan.
Cook until the mixture reaches 330°F to 345°F (165°C to 175°C).

Pull and flavor

Pour the mixture onto a greased marble surface.
Fold the mixture as it cools.
Take a small piece (1.5 to 2 pounds).
Pull the piece over a hook to create a stripe.
Add lemon oil to the clear batch.
Fold until cool enough to stand up.
Lay the pulled piece on top of the batch, flattening it slightly.

Shape and cut

Warm the end of the batch.
Spin it out.
Twist and roll to create a striped stick.
Spin out the candy while a helper rolls it to maintain its shape.
Mark the end of the table to cut into regular sizes.
Use shears to cut underneath the stick.
Alternatively, run a sharp knife over the top.
Push the stick over the end of the table.
Break off pieces where marked.
Once cold, pack the candy in tins.

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cream + lemontop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,640 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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 body of the candy and sets into a hard, glassy structure as it cooks.
Water: Dissolves the sugar so it can be cooked evenly into a syrup.
Cream of tartar: Acidifies the syrup, helping prevent sugar crystals from forming and keeping the candy clear.

The step that matters

Cook until the mixture reaches 330°F to 345°F (165°C to 175°C). Cooking to the hard-crack range drives off water so the candy sets hard and glassy when cool. Undercooking leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it brittle or scorched.