Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
French Cream Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the syrup
Place two and a half pounds of granulated sugar and one pint of water on the stove.
Stir until the mixture begins to boil, but do not let it boil further.
After it boils well, add one-fourth of a teaspoon of pure cream of tartar.
Boil rapidly for ten to twenty minutes.
Cool and finish
Test a little in a cup of cold water; if it has a soft, waxy appearance, it is done.
Set the mixture aside to cool.
When nearly cold, stir it with a flat piece of wood until it has a snowy, white appearance.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated sugar
- Forms the candy's sugar crystals, which set the final firm yet creamy texture.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidity that helps prevent large sugar crystals, keeping the candy smooth.
The step that matters
Stirring only when nearly cold. Stirring hot syrup encourages large sugar crystals and a grainy result. Waiting until the mixture is nearly cold lets many fine crystals form, giving the snowy white, creamy texture.
“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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