Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cream Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine one pound of lump sugar, two-thirds of a tumbler of water, one teaspoon of vinegar, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and a half teaspoon of cream tartar.
Boil for twenty minutes without stirring.
Finish
Pull when cool.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Walnut | 1 walnut half (4g) | 26 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
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.
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.
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + walnuttop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,832 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lump sugar
- Forms the candy's sweet body, which sets firm as the syrup cools.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that helps keep the sugar from crystallizing, giving a smoother candy.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that helps prevent sugar crystals, keeping the candy smooth and tender.
- Butter
- Adds richness and softens the texture of the finished candy.
The step that matters
Boil without stirring. Stirring hot sugar syrup can knock loose sugar crystals into it, which can trigger graining and make the candy grainy instead of smooth. Leaving it alone lets the syrup reach temperature cleanly, and the acid in the mix helps keep it from crystallizing.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, cream, butter):
- Almondfits better
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Peanutfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, cream, butter. 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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