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Dessert

Raisin Fudge

A sweet fudge made with sugar, milk, chocolate, butter, raisins, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Raisin Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the base

  1. In a saucepan, combine sugar, milk, chocolate, and butter.

  2. Boil the mixture until it hardens slightly in cold water.

Finish the fudge

  1. Remove from heat, then stir in vanilla and raisins.

  2. Beat the mixture until it becomes sugary.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Raisin + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together782 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla 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
Provides sweetness and forms the crystal structure that makes fudge firm.
Milk
Adds moisture and milk solids that give the fudge a creamy texture.
Chocolate
Supplies the main flavor and fat that help the fudge set smooth.
Butter
Adds fat for a richer, smoother texture.
Raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.

The step that matters

Boiling until the mixture hardens slightly in cold water. The sugar concentration reached while boiling sets the fudge's firmness. Stopping too early leaves it soft and runny, while boiling too long makes it hard and grainy.

Swap the raisin

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

  1. Coconutfits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Peachfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, chocolate, butter, vanilla. 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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