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Lemon Taffy--to Pull

A chewy lemon‑flavored candy made by pulling sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Evora Bucknum Perkins · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 11 ingredients
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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 ↓

Lemon Taffy--to Pull

Ingredients

Directions

Make the taffy

  1. Boil sugar and water until nearly done.

  2. Add lemon juice and cook until a little will harden in cold water.

  3. Flavor and turn onto a buttered plate.

  4. Fold the edges toward the center as they cool and pull as soon as cool enough to handle.

Make the milk syrup and nuts

  1. Shell, blanch, and chop the walnuts.

  2. Boil sugar and milk until syrup will harden when dropped into water but will not become brittle.

  3. Just before it is done, add the butter and vanilla.

  4. Add the chopped nuts, stirring them in well.

Finish and set

  1. Pour into buttered pans and, with a sharp knife, mark off the squares.

  2. Cool.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

261Calories
9 gProtein
14 gFat
29 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Evora Bucknum Perkins. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

  1. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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 candy base and sets into a firm, chewy texture as it cooks.
Light brown sugar
Adds caramel-like sweetness and depth of flavor to the milk syrup.
Milk
Adds richness and softens the texture of the syrup.
Walnuts (in the method)
Add crunch and nutty flavor that contrasts with the chewy candy.

The step that matters

Cooking the syrup to the right stage. Sugar syrup must reach the correct temperature to set into taffy. Too little cooking leaves it sticky and soft, while overcooking makes it brittle and hard to pull.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, cream):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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