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 ↓
Fig Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine one cup sugar, one-third cup water, and one-fourth teaspoon cream of tartar in a saucepan.
Do not stir while boiling.
Boil until the mixture reaches an amber color.
Stir in the cream of tartar just before removing from heat.
Candy the figs
Wash the figs, open them, and lay them in a tin pan.
Pour the candy syrup over the figs.
Alternatively, dip the figs in the syrup as with candied oranges.
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.
-
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
- Sugar
- Forms the syrup that sweetens the figs and sets into a glossy candied coating.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that helps keep the sugar syrup from crystallizing into grainy sugar.
The step that matters
Boil without stirring until amber. Stirring a boiling sugar syrup can trigger crystallization, leaving a grainy candy. The amber color shows the sugar has caramelized, so watch the color closely and remove from heat before it darkens too far.
“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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