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 for Bon Bons
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
Combine three cups of sugar, one and a half cups of water, one-half teaspoon of cream tartar, and flavor with vanilla; boil until drops almost keep their shape in water.
Pour the mixture into a bowl and set it in cold water.
Stir steadily with a silver or wooden spoon until cool enough to bear the hand.
Place on a platter and knead until even texture.
If too hard, stir in a few drops of warm water; if too soft, boil again.
Add a tablespoon of melted chocolate while the sugar is hot to flavor the candy.
Make the brown sugar mixture
Combine two cups of brown sugar, one-half cup of butter, four tablespoons of molasses, two tablespoons of water, and two tablespoons of vinegar; boil until it strings.
Set and serve
Cover the bottom of a dish with nuts, pour the candy over, and let it harden.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| 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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 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
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and forms the crystal structure that sets the candy's texture.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that helps keep sugar crystals fine, so the candy stays smooth.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a richer, softer bite.
- Molasses
- Adds deep flavor, color and moisture to the candy.
- Vinegar
- Acidity that softens the candy by breaking down some of the sugar.
The step that matters
Boil the sugar to the right stage. Boiling until drops almost keep their shape in water controls the final texture. Too little cooking leaves the candy soft and sticky, while too much makes it hard. Stirring while it cools keeps the sugar crystals fine.
“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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