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 ↓
Straight Maple Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine white sugar, Canadian maple sugar, cream of tartar, and water in a large pot.
Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring until it boils.
Remove the pot and wash the sugar from the sides of the pot with a wet scrub brush.
Cover the pot with a wooden or steel lid and let it steam for 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove the cover, insert a thermometer, and cook until it reaches 242°F (117°C).
Cool and shape
Pour the mixture onto a damp slab and let it cool until it's warm to the touch.
Roll the cooled mixture into small balls and dip them in a bitter-sweet coating.
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- White sugar
- Provides most of the sweetness and the bulk of the sugar structure that sets as the mixture cools.
- Canadian maple sugar
- Adds the characteristic maple flavor and sweetness to the finished confection.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the syrup, helping prevent large sugar crystals from forming for a smoother texture.
The step that matters
Cook to 242°F (117°C). Sugar concentration at this temperature determines how the mixture sets when cooled and worked. Undercooking leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it hard and grainy.
“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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