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Dessert

Burnt Almond Fudge

A fudge made with burnt almonds, sugar, milk, butter, and almond extract.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,800 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Burnt Almond Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Brown blanched almonds in the oven and chop rather coarsely.

  2. Brown one-half cupful of granulated sugar in a granite pan.

Cook the fudge

  1. Add two-thirds cup of milk to the browned sugar.

  2. When the browned sugar is thoroughly dissolved, add one cupful of granulated sugar and one tablespoonful of butter.

  3. Boil until it makes a firm ball when dropped into cold water.

  4. Flavor with almond extract.

  5. Add one cupful of the brown almonds and stir until creamy.

Set and cut

  1. Pour into pans and mark off into squares.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

205Calories
8 gProtein
9 gFat
25 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7

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

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. See the original page.

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. Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Granulated sugar
Browning adds caramel flavor, and the sugar cooks into the firm, sliceable body of the fudge.
Milk
Adds moisture and dairy richness, softening the sugar into a creamy texture.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat that makes the fudge smooth and tender rather than brittle.
Almonds
Toasted almonds add nutty flavor and a crunchy texture against the soft fudge.

The step that matters

Boil to a firm ball. Boiling concentrates the sugar so the fudge sets when cooled. Stop too early and it stays soft; go too far and it turns grainy or hard.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk):

  1. Cocoafits about as well
  2. Almondthe original
  3. Chestnutfits about as well
  4. Peanutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, 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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