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 ↓
For Spun Sugar Ornaments, Flowers, Etc
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sugar
Boil two and a half pounds of loaf sugar with a pint of water (short measure) and a pinch of cream of tartar to the crack (280 degrees).
Take off the fire and keep in a hot water bath.
Shape the ornaments
Now dip in your spoon and run out the design as drawn on a well oiled marble slab, or for flowers dip in your lead moulds.
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.
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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
- Loaf sugar
- Forms the main structure, cooking to the crack stage sets it into a brittle, glassy shape.
- Cream of tartar
- Its acidity helps stop the sugar from crystallising, keeping the cooked syrup smooth and clear.
The step that matters
Cooking to the crack stage. The sugar must reach the crack stage (280 degrees in this record) so it sets hard and glassy when cooled. Undercooked sugar stays sticky and will not hold its shape, while overcooked sugar turns bitter and brown.
“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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