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Dessert

Christmas Gumdrop Bars

A sweet cake made with flour, sugar, gumdrops, and walnuts, baked into bars.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Christmas Gumdrop Bars

Oven350 degrees
Time25-30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Lightly grease a 9 x 9 x 2 inch pan.

  3. Sift flour with baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.

Make the batter

  1. Place shortening, brown sugar, egg and vanilla into large bowl.

  2. Use an electric mixer set at medium speed to beat mixture until light and fluffy.

  3. Add half the flour mixture and the evaporated milk and beat until smooth.

  4. Stir in remaining flour mixture until well combined.

  5. Add gumdrops and coarsely chopped walnuts (or pecans), mixing well.

  6. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake 25-30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

  2. Remove pan to wire rack and cool partially.

  3. Cut into bars while still warm.

  4. Sprinkle lightly with sifted confectioner's sugar.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1009Calories
28 gProtein
43 gFat
124 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Black Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Macenot in our table0
Licoricenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + vanillatop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  3. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the main structure that sets the bars as they bake.
Vegetable shortening
Adds tenderness and a soft, moist crumb to the bars.
Packed light brown sugar
Adds moisture, sweetness and a soft texture to the bars.
Large egg
Binds the batter and helps set the structure as it bakes.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the bars rise and stay light.
Gumdrops
Add chewy pieces and sweetness throughout the bars.

The step that matters

Bake until a cake tester comes out clean. Baking past doneness dries the bars, while underbaking leaves the centre wet and unset because the egg and flour have not finished setting.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, egg, vanilla, evaporated milk):

  1. Cardamomfits better
  2. Clovefits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, egg, vanilla, evaporated milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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