Why it works: Vanilla and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Chocolate Creams
Ingredients
Directions
Make the fondant
Melt sugar slowly, wetting a little with the water.
Add the acid and vanilla, and boil until sugary, stirring often in a saucer.
When sugary, take from fire and stir until almost hard.
Then roll into little balls and put on a buttered plate.
Coat and dry
Melt chocolate in 2 tablespoonfuls water with a cup of sugar, and boil five minutes.
When just warm, dip the balls in the chocolate coating, and lay on plates to dry.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| 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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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Forms the sweet base and, when cooked to a sugary state, sets into the fondant centre.
- Acetic acid
- Acid that helps prevent the sugar from recrystallising too coarsely, keeping the fondant smooth.
- Chocolate (in the method)
- Forms the coating that gives the creams their flavour and a firm outer layer.
The step that matters
Stirring the fondant until almost hard. Sugar syrup must be cooled and stirred while it crystallises; stirring too early or too late gives a grainy or runny centre, so the fondant should be worked just until it stiffens.
“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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