Skip to main content
Dessert

Candy Pudding

A sweet candy pudding made with sugar, vinegar, water, baking soda, coconut, raisins, almonds, pecans, and melted chocolate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Candy Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the candy

  1. Mix sugar, vinegar, water, and baking soda in a saucepan.

  2. Heat on low until sugar dissolves and mixture is blended.

  3. Cook quickly until it becomes brittle.

  4. Test the mixture in cold water.

  5. Pour onto a greased marble surface and let cool slightly.

  6. Pull the mixture like taffy until light.

Add the mix-ins and shape

  1. Incorporate coconut, raisins, almonds, and pecans.

  2. Shape into a ball and place in a mold lined with oiled paper.

Serve

  1. Serve on a platter and cover with melted chocolate.

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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Coconut + almondtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,093 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  3. Coconut + pecanstop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together394 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Almond + pecanstop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together431 recipes

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

  5. Pecans + chocolatetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together804 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Granulated sugar
Forms the candy base, which sets firm and glossy as it cooks and cools.
Vinegar
Acid that helps prevent sugar from crystallizing, keeping the candy smooth.
Baking soda
Lightens the candy by creating small gas bubbles as it is pulled.
Grated coconut
Adds chewy texture and sweet, fatty flavor to the candy.
Raisins
Add chewy sweetness and moisture pockets throughout the candy.
Almonds
Add crunch and nutty flavor that contrasts with the soft candy.

The step that matters

Cook quickly until brittle, then test in cold water. Sugar syrup must reach the right concentration to set properly. Undercooking leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it hard and bitter. Testing in cold water checks the stage before pouring.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar, coconut, almond, pecans, chocolate):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Cherryfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar, coconut, almond, pecans, chocolate. 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.

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesChocolate CookiesChocolate Cookies76 recipesChocolate FudgeChocolate Fudge55 recipesChocolate Drop CookiesChocolate Drop Cookies50 recipes