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 ↓
Butter Sootch
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the sugar
Combine one cup brown sugar, half cup water, teaspoonful of vinegar, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut, then boil for twenty minutes.
Combine five cups brown sugar, one cup cream, half teaspoon cream of tartar, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Flavor with vanilla and boil together until it threads.
Finish and pour
Remove from heat, add one pound English walnuts, slightly chopped, and beat hard until it creams, then pour into buttered pans.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Cream + walnuttop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,982 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Vinegar + walnuttop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,769 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Vinegar + creamtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,064 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown sugar
- Provides the main sweetness and caramel flavor, and its sugar sets the candy as it cools.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving the candy a softer, smoother texture.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that helps keep the sugar from crystallizing too coarsely, keeping the candy smooth.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that partly breaks down sugar, helping the syrup stay smooth and clear.
- English walnuts
- Add crunch and nutty flavor that contrasts with the creamy candy.
The step that matters
Beating the cooled candy until it creams. As the cooked sugar cools and is beaten, it forms many tiny crystals, turning opaque and thick. Beating too little or too late leaves it glossy and runny instead of creamy.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, cream):
- Chestnutfits better
- Sesamefits better
- Almondfits better
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, cream. 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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