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 ↓
Honey Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine honey, sugar, cream, and cold water in a saucepan.
Mix and stir well, then let it stand for one hour.
Cook and shape
Cook over moderate heat, stirring gently until it becomes stiff enough to pull.
Pour into buttered tins.
Once cool enough to handle, pull and cut into small pieces.
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Honey + sugartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,932 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Honey + creamtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together738 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Honey
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and keeps the candy soft and chewy rather than grainy.
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and, once cooked, sets into the firm body the candy needs for pulling.
- Cream
- Adds fat, which softens the texture and gives a smoother, less brittle candy.
The step that matters
Cooking until stiff enough to pull. The mixture must reach a firm stage to hold its shape when pulled. Stopping too early leaves it sticky and soft, while cooking too long makes it hard and brittle. Gentle stirring prevents scorching on the bottom of the pan.
“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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