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Dessert

Cream Pecan Bar

A sweet bar made with sugar, glucose, water, gelatin, cream, and pecan halves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Gelatin and cream match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,628 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Cream Pecan Bar

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cream base

  1. In a kettle, combine the sugar, glucose, and water.

  2. Add the soaked gelatin and cook the mixture to 236°F (113°C).

  3. Remove from heat and stir in the dipping cream.

Set and cut

  1. Add the pecan halves and mix well.

  2. Pour the mixture onto a cream slab between iron bars.

  3. Once cooled, cut into 5 and 10 cent bars.

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. Gelatin + creamtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Granulated sugar
Forms the sweet bulk of the candy and sets firm as it cools.
Glucose
Inhibits sugar crystallization, keeping the candy smooth rather than grainy.
Gelatin
Adds elasticity and body, giving the candy a tender, chewy set.
Dipping cream
Adds fat and richness, softening the texture and mellowing the sweetness.
Pecan halves
Contribute toasty, nutty flavor and a crunchy bite to the set candy.

The step that matters

Cooking the mixture to 236°F (113°C). The sugar concentration at this temperature determines how firm the bar sets. Undercooking leaves it soft and 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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