Why it works: Sugar and nuts are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,228 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Peanut Brittle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the brittle
Melt the sugar over gentle heat, stirring constantly when the sugar begins to bubble at the edges until fully melted.
Hold the pan high above the flame to let the last lumps disappear; the liquid should be amber colored.
Add the baking soda and mix thoroughly, then add the nuts.
Pour the mixture onto a moistened bread board.
Shape and cut
When slightly cool, turn the edges up into the center and roll to ½ inch thick.
Cut into squares.
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.
-
Sugar + nutstop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,228 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Melts and caramelizes to form the brittle's hard, amber candy base.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the hot sugar syrup, releasing gas that makes the brittle light and crisp.
- Nuts
- Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavor throughout the candy.
The step that matters
Holding the pan over the flame at the end. The sugar must reach a clear amber color without burning. Once it turns dark, it tastes bitter, so watch closely and remove from heat as soon as the color is right.
“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
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.