Why it works: Vinegar and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Sugar Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Combine vinegar and water in a shallow pan.
Add sugar and bring to a gentle boil, then boil until the mixture becomes brittle when tested in water, without stirring.
Pull the candy as soon as it can be worked.
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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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sets into a hard, glassy candy as the boiled syrup cools.
- Vinegar
- Its acidity helps keep the sugar from crystallizing, giving a smoother candy.
The step that matters
Do not stir while boiling. Stirring can knock sugar crystals loose into the syrup, and these crystals spread and make the candy grainy instead of smooth and clear.
“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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