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 ↓
To Make Fondant
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine sugar, cream of tartar, and water in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil without stirring until it reaches the soft ball stage (236°F - 238°F).
To test, drop a little into cold water; it should form a soft ball.
Remove from heat immediately and let cool until a crust forms.
Work the fondant
Stir until thick and creamy; avoid stirring while too warm to prevent graininess.
If it becomes grainy, reheat with a little cool water.
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.
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
- Sugar
- Forms the sweet, solid structure of the fondant once cooked and cooled.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidity that helps keep sugar crystals small, giving a smoother texture.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be boiled evenly into a syrup.
The step that matters
Stirring after cooling. Stirring while the syrup is too warm lets sugar crystals form quickly and grainy texture results. Wait until it has cooled and a crust has formed before stirring until thick and creamy.
“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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