Name: Pink Almond Top Bonbons
Ingredients: 10 pounds Crystal A sugar; 3 pints water; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; 4 pounds cream; ½ pound chopped almonds; blanched split almonds; red food coloring; 1 drop rose 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 ↓

Pink Almond Top Bonbons

Ingredients

Directions

Make the fondant

Combine sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a copper pan. Cook and stir until boiling.
Wash down the sides of the pan, cover, and boil for a few minutes.
Remove the lid, insert a thermometer, and cook until it reaches 242°F (117°C).
Pour the mixture onto a clean, cool slab and let it cool.
Work the cooled mixture with a paddle until it creams and sets into a firm mass.
Cover with a damp cloth and let it mellow.

Shape and coat

Knead the mixture and place 4 pounds into a dipping pot. Warm until thin enough to stir.
Add chopped almonds and pour onto the slab, spreading in a thin layer.
Cut into long lozenge shapes using a cutter.
In the dipping pot, add red food coloring and 1 drop of rose oil to the remaining cream.
Dip the lozenges in the cream and place on heavy wax paper, topping each with a blanched almond.
Allow to cool completely before serving.

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).
Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,465 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,130 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,584 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Crystal a sugar: Forms the syrup that cools and crystallizes into the soft, creamy fondant base.
Cream of tartar: Acid that inverts some sugar, keeping the fondant smooth rather than grainy.
Cream: Creamy base mixed into the fondant, adding softness and a smooth, rich texture.
Chopped almonds: Mixed into the fondant for nutty flavor and a bit of texture contrast.

The step that matters

Cooking to 242°F (117°C) and cooling undisturbed. Stopping at the right syrup temperature sets the sugar concentration. Pouring it onto a cool slab and working it only after cooling lets small, smooth sugar crystals form; disturbing it while hot makes the fondant grainy.