Why it works: Butter and cream 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 ↓
Mapll Fudge
Ingredients
Directions
Make the fudge
In a kettle, combine the granulated sugar, yellow sugar, maple sugar, butter, and cream.
Stir continuously and cook until the mixture reaches 238°F (114°C) or a very soft ball stage.
Remove from heat and beat the mixture until it starts to thicken.
Set and serve
Pour the fudge onto wax paper placed between iron bars measuring 10x30 inches.
Once cold, mark into one-inch squares, break apart, and stack in a pan for serving.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated sugar
- Provides most of the sweetness and the crystal structure that gives fudge its body.
- Yellow sugar
- Adds sweetness and a deeper, molasses-like flavour to the fudge.
- Canadian maple sugar
- Adds concentrated maple flavour and sweetness to the fudge.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, tender texture and richer mouthfeel.
- Cream
- Adds milk fat and moisture, producing a creamy, soft set.
The step that matters
Beat after removing from heat. Beating while the mixture cools causes fine sugar crystals to form, giving a smooth, creamy texture. Beating too early or too late changes how the fudge sets.
“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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