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 ↓
Cream Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Place the sugar and water in a porcelain or granulated kettle.
Dissolve the sugar at the back of the stove.
Move the kettle forward and let it boil until it crisps in water.
Finish and shape
Stir in the extract and cream of tartar.
Pour the mixture into a buttered pan.
Once cooled, work the candy until it is perfectly white.
Cut it into small squares and set aside to dry.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,584 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Rose + creamtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,086 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- White sugar
- Forms the candy's base and sweetness as it cooks into syrup.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidity that helps prevent sugar crystals from growing too large, keeping the candy smooth.
The step that matters
Boiling until it crisps in water. Sugar syrup must reach the right concentration to set firm. Too little cooking leaves the candy soft, while too much makes it hard and brittle. Checking by dropping a little into cold water shows when it has reached the correct stage.
“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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