Name: Cream Candy
Ingredients: 2 pounds sugar; ½ cup water; 2 tablespoons vinegar; 1 tablespoon butter

Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Cream Candy

Ingredients

2 pounds sugar
½ cup water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Cook the syrup

Combine sugar, water, vinegar, and butter in a saucepan.
Boil for twenty minutes.
Season with lemon or vanilla just before removing from heat.

Cool

Pour into a dish and stir until cool.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,513 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar: Forms the main body of the candy and provides its sweetness.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that partly breaks down sugar, helping keep the candy smoother.
Butter: Adds fat for a richer flavor and softer bite.