Why it works: Cream and walnut are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,982 recipes. Both carry octanal, which smells fat, soap. The science ↓
Walnut Creams
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the centres
Take a piece of French Cream the size of a walnut.
Crack some English walnuts, using care not to break the meats.
Place one-half of each nut upon each side of the ball, pressing them into the ball.
Melt the coating
Take a piece of French Cream.
Put it into a cup and set the cup into a vessel of boiling water.
Heat until it turns like thick cream.
Dip and coat
Drop the walnut meats into it, one at a time.
Take them out on the end of a fork and place on buttered paper.
Continue to dip them until all are used.
Go over again, giving them a second coat of candy.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Walnut | 1 walnut half (4g) | 26 |
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 + walnuttop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,982 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- French cream
- Forms the sweet candy shell that softens when heated and sets firm around the nut.
- English walnuts
- Provide the nut centre, adding flavour and crunch that contrast with the sweet coating.
The step that matters
Heat the candy until it thickens. Gentle heat in boiling water softens the cream enough to flow into a smooth, even coat. Overheating can scorch or grain the candy, and underheating leaves it too stiff to cling to the nuts.
“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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