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 ↓
To Make Fondant
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the syrup
In a saucepan, combine sugar, cream of tartar, and water.
Bring to a boil without stirring until it reaches the soft ball stage (236°F - 238°F).
To test, drop a little into cold water; if it forms a soft ball, it's done.
Make the fondant
Remove from heat and let cool until a crust forms.
Stir until thick and creamy; if grainy, cook again with a little cold water.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Provides the sweetness and the sugar structure that sets into smooth, fine crystals.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that helps keep sugar crystals small and the fondant smooth.
The step that matters
Stirring after the crust forms. Stirring too early, or while the syrup is still hot, lets sugar form large crystals, which makes the fondant grainy. Letting it cool undisturbed until a crust forms keeps the crystals fine. If it turns grainy, adding a little cold water and reheating dissolves the large crystals.
“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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