Why it works: Sugar and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,168 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Gum Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gum
Soak the gum tragacanth in ½ cup of water for 12 hours or more.
Squeeze the dissolved gum through a clean towel.
Make the paste
Combine the gum with powdered sugar gradually, mixing with a paddle or wooden spoon.
Add a drop of liquid blue to whiten the mixture.
Incorporate corn starch in the same manner until fully mixed.
Knead the paste until it becomes stiff and ready for use.
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 + corntop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gum tragacanth
- Dissolved in water, it forms a stretchy binder that gives the paste its elasticity and strength.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and bulk, and helps the paste firm up as it is mixed in.
- Corn starch
- Absorbs moisture and stiffens the paste so it can be kneaded and shaped.
The step that matters
Knead the paste until stiff. If the paste is kneaded too little, it stays sticky and will not hold its shape; kneading develops the gum network and dries the mixture to a workable firmness.
“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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