Name: Maple or Caramel Italian Creams
Ingredients: 5 lbs brown sugar; 5 lbs white sugar; 12 lbs glucose; 10 lbs condensed milk; 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt; 3 lbs marshmallows or marshmallow dough; 1 lb flour; 20 lbs stock fondant

Why it works: Sugar and condensed milk work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 804 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Maple or Caramel Italian Creams

Ingredients

Directions

Make the candy base

Combine brown sugar, white sugar, glucose, and condensed milk in a kettle.
Set the mixture on fire and cook to a soft ball stage (~240°F), stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add salt, marshmallows, flour, and stock fondant.
Stir until smooth and pour into paper-lined starch boards to set.

Cut and finish

Once set, mark into one-inch squares.
Optionally coat the top with glazine for shine.
Turn out of the tray, peel off the paper, and break apart as marked.

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 + condensed milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together804 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Condensed milk + flourtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together410 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and a caramel-like depth of flavor.
White sugar: Provides sweetness and, with the syrups, helps set a smooth, firm candy texture.
Glucose: Inhibits crystallization, keeping the candy smooth and pliable rather than grainy.
Condensed milk: Adds milk solids for creamy texture and browning during cooking.
Marshmallows: Contribute softness and moisture, giving the candy a tender, creamy bite.
Flour: Adds body and helps the mass hold its shape when set.

The step that matters

Cooking to soft ball stage. Sugar concentration at the soft ball stage determines the candy's final texture. Undercooking leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it hard. Constant stirring prevents scorching on the bottom of the kettle.

“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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Maple or Caramel Italian Creams