Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Ice Cream Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the candy
In a saucepan, combine sugar, cream, cream of tartar, and butter.
Boil for 15 minutes without stirring.
Remove from heat and stir in nectar or vanilla.
Cool and cut
Pour into a pan to cool.
Once cooled, 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.
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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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Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and sets into a firm candy as the mixture concentrates while boiling.
- Cream
- Adds fat and softness, giving the candy a creamier, less brittle texture.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that helps prevent the sugar from crystallizing into grainy candy.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, contributing to a smooth, tender texture.
- Nectar or vanilla
- Adds aroma and flavor after cooking, when the heat would otherwise dull it.
The step that matters
Boil for 15 minutes without stirring. Boiling concentrates the sugar until it reaches the right firmness. Stirring during this stage can encourage sugar crystals to form, leaving the candy grainy, so the mixture should be left alone.
“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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