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 ↓
Stuffed Dates
Ingredients
Directions
Make the fondant
Stir sugar, water, cream of tartar, and salt in a saucepan until sugar dissolves.
Place over heat and boil rapidly to soft ball stage without stirring.
Test by dropping syrup into cold water.
Remove from heat and let stand until lukewarm.
Stir rapidly until mixture forms a solid mass.
Knead until fondant reaches the right consistency.
Stuff and set
Cut small pieces and stuff into pitted dates.
Lay on oiled paper in a cool place for at least 12 hours.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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
- Granulated sugar
- Forms the sweet base that crystallizes into the smooth fondant texture.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the syrup to help prevent unwanted sugar crystals forming.
The step that matters
Boil to soft ball stage without stirring. Stirring during boiling can trigger premature crystallization, leading to grainy fondant. Reaching the correct syrup temperature controls how much water is left, which sets the final 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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